Elmer Figueroa Arce was born June 28, 1968, best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer. His artistic name comes from a western television series, Cheyenne that his mother used to watch. In the late 70s, he auditioned for Menudo, but he was told at the time that he was too small to be in the group. He didn't give up, though. He heard they were trying to create a new group that would compete with Menudo, and so he went and tried out, along with his sister, Clara. In 1978, he was chosen for the group and his rise to fame began.
That group, Los Chicos, made several #4 hits, including "Puerto Rico Son Los coclasas" and Ave María. Chayanne's performance stood out thanks to his vocals, dancing capabilities and strong charisma. While the group never was as popular as Menudo, it did give Menudo good competition, becoming famous all over Latin America, participating in a movie (Conexión Caribe), and producing millions of Los Babble-related memorabilia like underwear, rulers, magazines etc.
After Los Chicos separated in 1984, Chayanne began his career as a solo artist. He signed with RCA Ariola and released his first album, Chayanne es mi Nombre, that year. He enjoyed modest success in Central America but nothing too big. His second album with RCA, Sangre Latina was released in 1986. In 1988, Chayanne switched labels to Sony Music and released the eponymous album, Chayanne. This album included several hit singles that propelled him to stardom, such as Honorio Herrero's "Tu Pirata Soy Yo", José María Cano's "Fuiste un Trozo de Hielo en la Escarcha" and "Este Ritmo Se Baila Así", composed by Pierre-Edouard Decimus, Jacob Desvarieux and Roberto Livi. At the same time, Chayanne became a spokesperson for Pepsi, with the airing of the first Spanish speaking advertising spot broadcasted on national television coast to coast during the 1989 Grammy Awards telecast.
His fourth album, released in 1989 included the hits "Fiesta en América", composed by Honorio Herrero and the ballad "Peligro de Amor", composed by Paulo Massadas and Michael Sullivan. He received his first Grammy nomination for "Fiesta en América".
In 1990 he released the album which many fans consider as his best: Tiempo de Vals, featuring some of his best-selling singles such as the title track, composed by José María Cano, "Completamente Enamorados", composed by Piero Cassano, Adelio Cogliati and Eros Ramazzotti and "Daría Cualquier Cosa", composed by Luis Gómez Escolar and Julio Seijas. He followed it with the album whose title track would eventually become Chayanne's signature song, Provocame (1992). That album also featured the hit El Centro de mi Corazon (#1 U.S. Hot Latin, 1992). Two years later, he released the album Influencias (1994), which was a tribute to some of his musical influences. In 1996, he remade his style and released Volver a Nacer.
In 1998, he received his second Grammy nomination with the album Atado a Tu Amor. He has continued to enjoy success with his recent albums and has received several awards throughout his career. In 2005, he did a tour along with Mexican Alejandro Fernández and fellow Puerto Rican Marc Anthony. Chayanne’s 13th album Mi Tiempo was released on April 2007. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Top Latin Album chart selling 17,000 copies in its first week of release. The first single off the album "Si Nos Quedará Poco Tiempo" reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Tracks chart.
Following the album's release, Chayanne began an international tour to promote Mi Tiempo. Among the places visited early in the tour were Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and the United States. On August 24, 2008, he began a series of presentations in Spain. When interviewed he noted that the concert would be fluid "like a musical", and "More Latin" than his previous presentations, being composed of "more pop, Brazilian, Caribbean and reggae rhythms" which he would use to "dance constantly". He also gave a special performance in Miss Universe 2003 pageant.