Jose Feliciano

José Montserrate Feliciano García (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish pronunciation: ; born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican musician. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song "Feliz Navidad". Music genres he explores consist of a fusion of many styles, such as Latin, blues, jazz, soul and rock music, created primarily with the help of his signature acoustic guitar sound.

In the United States, Feliciano became popular in the 1960s, particularly after his 1968 album Feliciano! reached number 2 on the music charts. Since then in his career, he has released over 50 albums worldwide in both the English and Spanish languages.

José Montserrate Feliciano García was born on September 10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico, the fourth child of eleven sons. He was born blind as a result of congenital glaucoma. He was first exposed to music at the age of three, playing on a cracker tin can while accompanying his uncle who played the cuatro. When Feliciano was five, his family moved to Spanish Harlem, New York City, where he made his first public appearance at the Teatro Puerto Rico in The Bronx.

Feliciano's knack for music became apparent when at age seven, he taught himself to play the accordion. About two years later, when he was nine years old, his father gave him his first guitar. He would play his guitar by himself in his room for up to 14 hours a day and would learn by listening to 1950s rock and roll, records of classical guitarists, and jazz players. Andrés Segovia and Wes Montgomery were among his favorites. As a teenager, Feliciano took classical guitar lessons with Harold Morris, a staff music teacher at The Light House School for the Blind in New York City. Morris himself had once been a student of Segovia. In a 1969 interview, Feliciano mentioned soul music in general, and Ray Charles and Sam Cooke in particular, as influences on his singing.

At the age of 17, to help support his family, Feliciano left high school. He started frequenting the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, "passing the hat" as his "salary" in those clubs where he was invited to play. His first professional contracted performance was at The Retort, a coffee house in Detroit, Michigan.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.