Eladio Romero Santos

Who was Eladio Romero Santos?

Eladio Romero Santos was a Dominican musician.

Originally from Zenobí, a town outside of San Francisco de Macorís, Santos’ career spans over forty years. Santos started recording bachata at the same time as José Manuel Calderón and Cuco Valoy. Since he performed mostly in country social clubs and for patron saints’ festivals, he was not marginalized as were many of his fellow bachateros. Santos’ style was much simpler and more straightforward than that of other guitarists such as Edilio Paredes; it was also rhythmic and danceable. He contracted arthritis in 1995 and was forced to stop playing the guitar. After 1995, he only performed as a singer. Romero Santos retired in 1998. He died three years later, in 2001, of lung cancer.