Rumualda Jackeline Estévez Rodríguez, known professionally as Jackeline Estévez (also spelled Jacqueline or Jaqueline), is a Dominican singer of romantic ballads and boleros, born in San Francisco de Macorís on 7 February 1963. A child performer who reached national television as a teenager, she has been active for more than four decades and is known for «Crisálida», also known as «Ámame», for her 1998 merengue duet with Fernando Villalona «Me Muero por Ti», and for Spanish-language versions of international hits.

Origins

Jackeline Estévez grew up in San Francisco de Macorís, the daughter of a military man who also worked as a barber and photographer and who managed her career in its early years. She grew up in the same neighborhood as Adalgisa Pantaleón and Henry Hierro. At about six she began entering talent contests on a radio programme, «En Busca de Estrellas», staged at the La Güira nightclub, inspired by an uncle who sang in the city's Bellas Artes choir, and she stopped singing in public at about seven after a bad experience with a rival contestant.

She returned at thirteen, after singing in class in place of taking an exam led to a place in an interschool voice festival, where she finished third. Henry Hierro, pianist of Jossie Esteban y La Patrulla 15, took an interest in her and coached her. Around the age of fourteen she recorded her first single, the ballad «Yo Soy», with songs by Samuel Duarte and David Rosario, and she has said that Luis Castillo arranged it with Michel Camilo among the musicians. Her father required her to finish secondary school before she moved to television. She holds a degree in business administration.

«Crisálida» and the 1980s

In the early 1980s she joined the television programme «Fiesta» on Teleantillas and was signed by «Borinquen Records» of Puerto Rico, for which she recorded «Crisálida», «Demuéstramelo», and «Lléname de Besos». Anthony Ríos, then a presenter on the programme, wrote «Crisálida» for her, and the title, a metaphor for a girl becoming a woman, gave her a signature song she has performed for more than forty years. She won Revelation of the Year at the Premios Dorados in 1983 and sang at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York that year. In 1985 she took part in a concert at the Estadio Olímpico alongside the group Menudo.

She was one of a generation of solo women singers of the decade that included Vickiana and Olga Lara, and she toured stadiums and provincial towns, with her father promoting concerts by having leaflets dropped from a rented plane. In 1991 she represented the Dominican Republic at the OTI Festival in Acapulco with «Cuando el Amor Se Va», a song by Anthony Ríos.

Merengue, boleros, and international hits

Her Spanish-language versions of foreign songs include «Mujer Enamorada», based on Barbra Streisand's «Woman in Love», and «Bailarina Oculta», based on Tina Turner's «Private Dancer»; she has also recorded bachata, including a bachata version of «En Carne Viva».

«Me Muero por Ti», her duet with Fernando Villalona, was written by Angelito Villalona and arranged by Manuel Tejada. She recalls recording it in 1996 for Camino Records, and it was released in 1998, when it won the Premio Casandra for merengue of the year. It remains a staple of Dominican weddings and orchestras. She and Villalona also recorded the bolero «El Amor sin Sufrimiento No Es Amor», included on her 2010 album «Única en Boleros».

Later work

Her albums include «Toda Tuya» (1994), «Mujer Enamorada» (2007), and «Única en Boleros» (2010). Her stage shows include «Espectacular» (2005), «Unika» (2008), «Bolerísima» (2010), a concert with Alex Bueno, «Enamorados» (2012), «Confesiones» (2014), and «Sinfónico» (2015), and she appeared in Franklin Domínguez's play «Anita en Busca de la Bondad» at the Teatro Nacional. At the Premios Casandra she was named female artist of the year in 2008 and best solo singer in 2009 and 2012.

In 2026 she released «Antes de Ti», a bachata version of a song by Mon Laferte, and «Mentiroso», a pop-rock ballad written by Marlene de los Santos, and she says she has several completed recordings still unreleased.

Legacy

Jackeline Estévez is one of the few Dominican women who have kept a career in the romantic ballad for more than forty years, and «Crisálida» and «Me Muero por Ti» remain among the best-known songs in the Dominican repertoire.