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In 1947, he entered a singing school where he received the necessary training to become a definitive singer on the roster of La Voz del Yuna later that year. Beltrán was taught how to read and write by Dominican composer and pianist Rafael “Bullumba” Landestoy who worked at the radio station La Voz del Yuna (4). During the same year, Beltrán performed with various bands such as the Ballet Toño quintet, Brisas de Oriente sextet, and the group “Los Dominican Boys” (3).

From these humble beginnings, he went on to perform on the amateur singing program of the radio station La Voz del Yuna on December 14, 1946, at the age of 23 (2).

Beltrán worked at the docks at the nearest port in the city at this time and did not know how to read or write. with the sextet “Angelita” (named after Dictator Rafael Trujillo’s daughter) led by Ulises de los Santos, as well as Conjunto Alma Vegana led by Marcos Ozuna, and later with the orchestra of Crescencio Solano, earning four pesos per dance (1). As an adolescent, Beltrán sang on the radio H.I.T. He was equally adept at interpreting slow-paced boleros in evocative tones and up-tempo merengues and guarachas with plenty of swing and cadence, which made him an international star.īeltrán began singing in the streets of Cuidad Trujillo (Santo Domingo) as a candy seller after the loss of his mother at the age of eleven. His big smile, seen on so many album covers throughout his career, became a signature characteristic of this charistmaic singer.

Beltrán had a powerful voice and grace as a singer that made him one of the greatest bolero interpreters of the Dominican Republic. Díaz and Medardo Guzmán in 1954 with La Sonora Matancera. Known as “El Negrito del Batey” after popularizing the iconic Dominican merengue by Héctor J. Alberto Amancio Beltrán was born on May 5, 1923, in the batey (a company town on a sugar plantation) Palo Blanco of La Romana, Dominican Republic.