Johnny Ventura Way (Manhattan)
Present name:None
Location:At the intersection of Wadsworth and 176th Street in the borough of Manhattan
Honoree: Johnny Ventura (1940-2021) was a Dominican singer, bandleader, composer and politician. Renowned for his success in merengue and salsa, he released more than 100 albums and was a six-time Latin Grammy award winner. At 16 he accepted a friend's challenge and entered a radio talent contest, which he won. He then competed on the TV show La TV Busca Una Estrella (Star Search) and again won. His prize was a scholarship to study music and voice. After graduation he changed his name to Johnny Ventura and was hired as lead singer for an orchestra., By the mid-60s he had his own orchestra. Johnny Ventura y Su Combo. Fascinated by the energy and dance moves in early rock & roll music -- especially Elvis Presley's -- Ventura grafted them onto merengue in a series of successful albums. By 1970, he was a best-selling artist across Latin America who performed sold-out concerts in the U.S. and Europe. He embraced salsa during the early 70s and registereda string of further hits. He dissolved his band in 1992 to pursue a career in politics. He was elected a member o the National Assembly, then Deputy Mayor of Santo Domingo, and then Mayor from 1998 t0 2002. Afer leaving office in 2002 he resumed touring and recording and ontinued to release charting albums, his last in 2016. In 2020, Ventura again ran for mayor of Santo Domingo but lost. He died the following year at 81. (Rodriguez)
LL:2022/54