Don Omar
Birth name	William Omar Landrón
Born	February 10, 1980
Origin	Carolina, Puerto Rico
Genre(s)	Reggaeton
Occupation(s)	singer-song writer, composer, CEO
Years active	2000—present
Label(s)	All Star Records (His Label) VI Music Universal Music Latino Machete Music
Website	Official web site

William Omar Landrón (born February 10, 1980) , also known as Don Omar, El Rey, King of the Kings, is a Latin Grammy Award-nominated reggaeton singer/rapper.

Don Omar is best known for his songs "Angelito", “Dile” and "Dale Don Dale" from his first album The Last Don and "Reggaetón Latino" from the album The Chosen Few. His songs center around life and love; some examples of these would be "La Recompensa" (The Reward), “Pobre Diabla” (Poor She-Devil") and “Aunque Te Fuiste” (Even Though You Left), and "Cancion de Amor" (Love Song).

Personal life

William Omar Landrón is the father of three children. On April 19, 2008 he married Jackie Guerrido.^[1] Don Omar is also the owner of All Star Records. On September 2004, Landrón and two companions were detained by police personnel in Puerto Rico.^[2] He was subsecuently charged with drug and weapon possession, after being supposedly found by policemen Arnaldo Hernández and Neftalí Molina consuming cannabis in a white Hummer.^[2] On June 30, 2008, Landron attended the first court hearing in the drug case against him, acompanied by Guerrido, his brother Luis Landrón and his mother Toñita Rivera. Here the charges were reviewed by the judge and several persons were interviewed as potential members of the jury.^[2] The jury was selected on July 8, 2008.^[3] Two days later Angel Ramírez Ramírez denied permisson to extract a DNA sample from a Marijuana cigarette, after noting that if a previous test done in June brings back negative results the charges against Landrón may be dropped.^[4] The hearings had to be posponed on July 10, 2008, because one of the prosecution's withnesses was unable to attend due to pregnancy.^[5] The DNA tests were "inconclusive".^[6]

Musical career

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He started his career when Héctor Delgado (from the duo Hector and Tito) gave him an opportunity to be a backup singer.^{citation needed} After that, he sang in a live concert with Hector and Tito in 2003, which was released later as a CD and DVD, which included the songs that became instant hits, Baila Morena and Amor de Colegio.

His debut album, The Last Don, sold over 550,000 units in South America.^{citation needed} Both “The Last Don” and the live edition of it have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Worldwide, The Last Don: Live [CD & DVD] sold over one million copies, according to the official website. His debut single, “Dale Don Dale”, sold over 500,000 copies in South America. He received the awards for “Latin Pop Album of the Year” and "New Artist & Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year” by the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2003. The Last Don: Live [CD & DVD] was also nominated for "Urban Music Album" at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards.

Both a singer and composer, Don Omar has made a significant impact on the Latino and Spanish-speaking market, participating in three sold-out concerts which filled the Canary Island's venues with more than 31,000 fans, and 125,000 in Venezuela.

The first single released from Reggaetón Latino, “Dale Don Dale (Remix)”, which features rapper Fabolous, debuted at #1 on the crossover chart.

He is currently signed to VI Music and Machete Music through Universal Music Latino.

Don Omar's May 2006 album King of Kings, became history's highest ranking reggaeton LP in the top 10 US charts, with its debut at # 1 on the Latin sales charts and the #1 spot on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Radio Chart with his single “Angelito”.^[7]. Don Omar was also able to beat the in-store appearance sales record at Disneyworld's Virgin music store previously set by pop star Britney Spears.

With the highest charting debut by a reggaeton artist, Don Omar's "King of Kings" entered at No. 7 with 74,000, besting Daddy Yankee's No. 24 entry with 2005's "Barrio Fino En Directo". In April 2007, Don Omar received the Latin Billboard award for "Reggaeton Album Of The Year" for King of Kings.^[8]

He joins Daddy Yankee as the only reggaeton artists with Platinum albums.

The songs "Los Bandoleros" and "Conteo" were featured in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift during the scene with the cameo appearance of Vin Diesel.

Don Omar continues to expand awareness for reggaetón music, becoming one of the few artists in this music genre to embark on global tours through some of the largest cities in Europe, U.S. and Central and South America. He self proclaims himself "El Rey Del Reggaeton" (The King of Reggaeton).

On September 18, 2007, Landrón was briefly under police custody in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, when a local company sued him after he canceled a concert scheluded for that week as part of an international tour titled "Up Close".^[9] The organization claimed that he had theft $70,000 due to the cancellation.^[9] Landrón responded that he canceled the concert because the company didn't provide air tickets in time.^[9] After the case was presented before a local judge, both parts reached an economic agreement.^[9]

Landrón participated as in Gilberto Santa Rosa's presentation in an event titled "Concierto del Amor", presentated in the Madison Square Garden on February 9, 2008. Where he closed the event and performed reggaeton themes.^[10].

A third studio album is being recorded by the artist expected to be release in 2008. Rumored guests are Sean Paul, Kat DeLuna, Aventura, Wisin & Yandel, Tito "El Bambino", Arcangel among others, the lyrics of the songs will deal with sex, drugs, homosexuality and religion, said Don Omar.

Don Omar has created a new Record Label called Orfanato Music Group, in which Marcy Place, Cynthia, and Rell will take part of^[11].

Don Omar's song "Salió El Sol" from the album * King of Kings: Armageddon Edition is in the game Grand Theft Auto IV by Rockstar Games.

Discography

Filmography

• 2008 The Fast and the Furious 4 (announced).^[12][13]

DVDs

• 2004 The Last Don: Live
• 2005 The Don Omar All Star Video Collection

Chart history

Albums

Singles

References

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace