| One of the most prominent Latin-born performers of the pop era, singer/guitarist Jose Feliciano was born September 10, 1945 in Lares, Puerto Rico; the victim of congenital glaucoma, he was left permanently blind at birth. Five years later, he and his family moved to New York City's Spanish Harlem area; there Feliciano began learning the accordion, later taking up the guitar and making his first public appearance at the Bronx's El Teatro Puerto Rico at the age of nine. While in high school he became a fixture of the Greenwich Village coffeehouse circuit, eventually quitting school in 1962 in order to accept a permanent gig in Detroit; a contract with RCA followed a performance at New York's Gerde's Folk City, and within two years he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. In the late 1960's he scored several pop hits and in 1969 he won a Grammy for Best New Artist; and his recording of the theme song to the sitcom "Chico and the Man" subsequently achieved hit status, edging into the Top 100 singles chart in 1974. He largely went unnoticed during the remainder of the decade and then in 1989 he had a surprise disco hit with "Never Gonna Change." The song was, in my opinion, one of the hottest of the year thanks to a superb 12" remix. Jose continues to perform and tour and briefly appeared in the movie "Fargo." He's had no further hits after 1989 but he still records, mostly for his latin-based fans. |
