Ruben Blades
b. 16 July 1948, Panama City. Both of Rubén's parents are musicians, his mother Anoland a pianist and singer, his father Rubén Sr. a bongo player. While he was at school in 1966, he became a vocalist with the band Conjunto Latino and then belonged to the group Los Salvajes del Ritmo until 1969. In 1970, he journeyed to New York to record DE PANAMA A NUEVO YORK with the band of ex-boogaloo star Pete Rodríguez. After graduating from the University of Panama he worked as a lawyer with the National Bank of Panama. In 1974, while visiting his family in Miami (they had relocated there in 1973), Rubén made a side trip to New York and secured a job in the mail-room of Fania Records. When Tito Allen left Ray Barretto's band in 1974, Rubén was recommended to Ray Barretto auditioned him in the mail-room and hired him, and in July of that year, Blades appeared at Madison Square Garden with the band. Rubén performed on BARRETTO (1975) and when Barretto split to form a fusion concert band, Rubén stayed with his former band (renamed Guarare) for a while. Blades also appeared on the debut double BARRETTO LIVE: TOMORROW (1976) by Ray's new band. Meanwhile he composed and sang lead vocals on the hit track El Cazangero from The Good, The Bad, The Ugly by Willie Colón, whom he had initially met back in Panama. The tune won him the ‘Composer of the Year’ award in the 1976 Latin NY magazine poll. Rubén supplied songs to a number of bands and artists during the '70s, including: Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz, Ismael Miranda, Bobby Rodríguez, y La Compañia, Cheo Feliciano, Conjunto Candela, Tito Rodríguez, II, Tito Puente, Roberto Roena, Tito Gómez, Héctor Lavoe, Pete ‘El Conde’ Rodríguez; 12 original recordings of his compositions by other artists were collected on the album INTERPRETAN A RUBÉN BLADES (1981). In 1976 he joined the Fania All-Stars and made his debut with them on TRIBUTE TO TITO RODRÍGUEZ; he continued as a member until 1980. Three years earlier, Rubén sang lead and chorus on Larry Harlow's salsa suite LA RAZA LATINA. Rubén and Willie's partnership began in earnest with METIENDO MANO! (1977—released in the UK on the Caliente label in 1988). They collaborated on four more albums: SIEMBRA (1978) went gold and was regarded as ‘The Renaissance of Salsa’; the controversial two album set MAESTRA VIDA (LIFE THE TEACHER, 1980) incorporated theatrical elements and also received a gold record; CANCIONES DEL SOLAR DE LOS ABURRIDOS ( SONGS FROM THE PLACE OF BORED PEOPLE, 1981) was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1983 and THE LAST FIGHT was released in tandem with the film of the same name, in which they both starred. 
THE LAST FIGHT was Fania Records boss, Jerry Masucci's, attempt to break into the film industry and it fared badly. At the same time, Blades was playing a leading role over the issue of alleged non-payment of royalties by the label and there was speculation that he tried to form a union of Fania's artists in 1979. The upshot was that Masucci sold Fania for a million dollars to an Argentinian business group called Valsyn and retained a consultancy affiliation with the label. Blades switched to the Elektra label in 1984 and debuted on BUSCANDO AMERICA, with a sextet, Seis del Solar, which substituted synthesizer for horns. 
He starred in the low budget film Crossover Dreams and contributed songs to the soundtrack album. Film of Rubén at his Harvard Law School graduation ceremony was included in the UK television documentary "The Return of Rubén Blades" (1986), in which he also expressed his views about a possible future political career in Panama. He made his UK concert debut with Seis del Solar in 1986. Blades's complete plunge into crossover territory with the rock orientated English language NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, flopped. He made a U-turn with the Spanish language album, ANTECEDENTE, on which his backing band (renamed Son del Solar) was augmented by a trombone section and some arrangements (by keyboardist Oscar Hernández and bassist Mike Viñas) were reminiscent of his work with Colón. The album won a Grammy Award. 
Rubén's most significant contribution to salsa has been in terms of quality of lyrical content. He has described his body of composed work as ‘musical journalism’ and an ‘urban chronicle’. Blades has developed a successful movie-acting career and his films include: Critical Condition (with Richard Pryor, 1987), The Milagro Beanfield War (with Robert Redford, 1988), The Lemon Sisters (with Diane Keaton), and The Two Jakes (with Jack Nicholson); he was the first Latino to win an ACE (American Cable Excellence) award for his portrayal of a death-row prisoner in Dead Man Out ; he composed the music for Sidney Lumet's Q And A. 
He provoked controversy in Panama and his mother's wrath when he criticized the 1990 US invasion of Panama.