Family member, man of faith and of multiple nationalities: 10 events in the life of Ricardo Montaner, who turns 65 todayThe Venezuelan singer was born in a city in the suburbs of Buenos Aires on September 8, 1957 and became one of the best-selling artists in America

This Thursday September 8 Ricardo Montaner turns 65. Owner of a particular voice that was amplified in each of his greatest hits that toured the world, he is one of the best-selling American artists in history: they bought him more than 25 million of records to date.

However, in the beginning it was not easy for him. “I was a very shy guy, all my life I have been very shy. Then, Climbing up on a platform required controlling my nerves in an important way, it scared me a lot”, he confessed to TechMarkup in 2019 about how he had to transform his destiny towards a life between hotels, airports and stadiums, with the rumor of his people accompanying him wherever he goes.

Family member, artist, man of faith, frequent traveler, of multiple nationalities and a single origin: listed below 10 relevant facts in the life of Montaner who today has to celebrate his own story once again.

1. He was born on Sunday, September 8, 1957 with the name of Héctor Eduardo Reglero Montaner. Although it is known that he is Venezuelan, he actually came to the world in Argentina. Precisely, in Valentin Alsina, a city belonging to the Lanús party, in the southern area of ​​Greater Buenos Aires. He is the son of Eduardo Delfort Reglero Atrio and Martha Nélida Montaner, and brother of Carlos Eduardo Reglero Ortiz Y Norm Reglero.

two. When little Ricardo was seven years old, the family moved to Maracaibo, in Venezuela, since his father, a telecommunications technician, had received a job offer that he could not refuse. And although it meant progress for all of them, uprooting was not an easy thing. “That change in my life marked me a lot. Still kid you take him out of his environment, and it’s very hard”, Montaner confessed some time later.

3. The love for music came to him at school, when he decided to join the choir of the church that he attended with his parents every week. Little by little, he cultivated a taste for pop and rock, while he self-taught himself to play instruments such as drums and guitar. His passion led to his profession and before he was 15 years old, he had already formed some bands. “music gave me security”, Summarized Montaner.

Four. One day he was about to perform with his group, Scale, where Ricardo was the drummer. But the singer got sick and he took his place. There he realized that he was passionate about being in front, singing and calling the public’s attention. “When I looked up, I started looking at some girls who were there, watching me sing. And for the first time I noticed the smile of some girls when I was 14 years old. That’s when I realized that music embellishes“, said.

5. The first song he composed was around 1973. It was called “Spring Nights” and was inspired by his first girlfriend, Ana Vaz Ponicke. In 1975, they married and had two children, Alexander Manuel Y Hector Edward. They divorced in 1986, when Ricardo was already focused on his career, which imposed schedules and routines that did not adapt to the family rhythm.

6. After being discovered by a talent scout who convinced him to come forward and become a soloist, in 1976 he recorded his first album signed as Ricardo Montaner. It was a 45 rpm single, containing the song “Mares” -on side A- and “Júrame” -on side B-. That was the beginning of a career paved with successes: in 1988 he achieved his first international hit with a Spanish version of “Per noi innamorati”, signed by the Italian singer-songwriter Gianni Togni. Montaner translated it as “So in love”.

7. A year later and as if tempting fate with the aforementioned success, he married for the second time with Marlene Rodriguez Miranda. With her he had three more children, Richard, Mauricio Y Eva Luna, and they are still together. They are very romantic they renewed their marriage vows five times: the last one was in August 2019.

8. In the early 2000s, after visiting some sick children who were admitted to the Pereira Rossell hospital in Montevideo, Uruguay -and of which he is godfather- converted to evangelism. What happened is that she saw how a child who was seriously ill and had little expectation of life, managed to recover. In 2005 he publicly acknowledged his faith and, from that moment on, his work also entered into conversion: from the release of the album Words (2007, which includes several allusive songs) to the eloquent Faithof 2021. “If in an album I have turned around so that you can see more inside of me, it is in this. Faith It is an album that draws me as I am in conversations with God. Making a complete album with love songs dedicated to God is not conventional because I make ballads for couples and it takes a turn in which people are not used to seeing me, except in touches like ‘La gloria de Dios’, which was a song that took off very strong”, he told teleshow after submitting it.

9. Have four nationalities: the Argentine, the Venezuelan, the Colombian and the Dominican. The latter was the last one granted to him so far -at the end of 2019-, by way of “privileged naturalization”. Although she has lived in Miami for more than twenty years, she also has a home in the Dominican Republic. Despite the multiplicity, she does not doubt: he feels venezuelan. “I have it very, very clear: I feel absolutely and totally Venezuelan. I feel like an artist from Maracaibo, from Zulia, who came to Caracas and did well, like many others. And I don’t feel like an Argentine artist at all and I say it with great respect for Argentina”, he said in 2009, in an interview with the Venezuelan writer Leonardo Padron.

10. At the end of May 2022, he released his last album to date. Its titled Tango and it is a tribute to its roots through versions of classics of the genre, such as “Nada”, “Nostalgias”, “Uno”, “El día que me feliz”, “Por una punta” and “La Última Copa”. This work has the peculiarity of having been conceived and produced by the artist together with Diego Nunez Already Gerardo Rozin. “Gerardo he was the first to tell me that it was time to make the tango album and I didn’t pay any attention to him. He had been telling me this for 18 years, ever since we became friends on Channel 9, where he had a program called the animal question”, said Montaner himself when presenting the album at the Café de los Angelitos.