Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa will release his new single, “Consejo de un abuelo,” this Friday. He described the song to EFE as “a family treasure” because it marks his first musical collaboration with his 12-year-old grandson, Ian Marco, who is showing “promise” as a singer.
The goal of the song, written by Juan José Hernández and released ahead of Father’s Day on Sunday, as Santa Rosa explained, was to keep it private, as “a family treasure,” but he wanted to share it with his fans because he felt like “a proud grandfather.”
“I have all the traits of a grandfather… proud, doting,” said “The Gentleman of Salsa” about his love for his 12-year-old grandson, the son of his youngest son, Omar.
Inspired by those feelings, Santa Rosa asked Hernández—who also wrote the hit “Conteo regresivo”—to write a song about that loving bond with her grandson. Hernández not only composed the song but also produced it in the bolero genre.
“We had the song custom-written,” said Santa Rosa Santa Rosa, winner of numerous awards, including the 2021 Latin Grammy for Musical Excellence.
Through this relationship between grandfather and grandson, the story conveys universal values such as respect, faith, kindness, and the importance of supporting those we love throughout their lives.
Santa Rosa, the composer of hits such as “Que alguien me diga,” “Qué manera de quererte,” and “No pensé enamorarme otra vez,” said that his grandson began to show his musical talent by watching animated movies and singing along to the songs in them.
The boy’s mother, for her part, secretly recorded videos of her son and shared them with the rest of the family. That’s how Santa Rosa got the idea to record a song together so it would be preserved for posterity.
“I noticed that she had a beautiful voice, a good ear, and that she picked up those movie songs easily, and that’s when the idea of doing something together came up,” he said.
The veteran singer also admitted that he sees himself reflected in his grandson “in his passion” for singing, although he acknowledged that “there is a contrast,” since at the boy’s current age, he was already singing in various groups and performing at quinceañeras and weddings.
In light of all this, Santa Rosa said that if her grandson wants to pursue a career as a singer—a profession none of her four children followed—he already has an advantage over other children who still don’t know what they want to do when they grow up, according to Agencia EFE.