Lourdes Robles

Lourdes Robles is a singer-songwriter and actress, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.^[1] Her career started in the early 1980s as part of duo Lourdes y Carlos, releasing two albums. The duo split and Robles began a solo career, acting in "Barrio Cuatro Calles" and "Generaciones", along Puerto-Rican performer Chayanne.^[1] She also performed in some musical productions, including Hello, Dolly!, Into the Woods, and The Fantasticks.^[1]

At the Festival del Sol in 1985 held in Miami, Florida, Robles received an award for her song "No Soy Distinta". Sponsored by Danny Rivera, the singer recorded two songs that attracted the attention of the record label Sony Music. In 1989, her single "Corazón en Blanco", a pop song, became her first to chart in the United States, peaking at number 15.^[2] The next year, Robles released the album Imágenes, produced by Rudy Pérez and Ricardo Eddy.^[3] This album peaked at number 9 in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and yielded her first number-one single "Abrázame Fuerte".^[2] Her duet with Nicaraguan singer Luis Enrique, "Gracias a Tu Amor", also became a hit, peaking at number two.^[2] "Miedo", "Que Lástima" and "Es Él" were released as singles.^[2] Robles was awarded with a Gold album for Imágenes.^[1]

In 1992 Robles was asked to represent the new generation of performers at the "Fifth Anniversary of the Encounter with the New World", sharing the stage with popular salsa singers, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Andy Montañez, Carmita Jiménez, Danny Rivera, Chucho Avellanet and José Juan Tañón.^[1] Hey Jude: Tributo a Los Beatles was released in 1995. This compilation album included 13 songs originally performed by The Beatles. Robles performed a Spanish version of the song "The Long and Winding Road".^[4]

Robles parted ways with Sony Music in 1999, signing a recording contract with PolyGram. The first album with this label, Cielo de Acuarela, recorded in New York City, Spain and Santo Domingo, with a blend of tropical and pop music.^[5] The following year, a song titled "Lo Odio", produced by Guillermo Torres, was released.^[1] In May 2002, Billboard magazine announced that a new album by Robles, under the Latin World Entertainment Group—a Puerto-Rican record label of recent creation, was "under way".^[6] Sensaciones was released in 2002.^[1]

In 2010, a cover album with songs previously recorded by Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricardo Montaner, Franco De Vita, La 5ª Estación, Maná and Alejandro Fernández, titled Es Algo Más was unveiled. About this album, Robles said that it would appeal to people "who are fans of her work and people who are not."^[7]