Daniel Santos (February 5, 1916 – November 27, 1992) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, including guaracha, plena and rumba.

[2] In late 1933 and 1934, Santos performed in a nightclub named Los Chilenos located near Broadway and was paid twenty dollars per weekend.

His chores included singing, waiting on tables and on occasions he was the master of ceremonies for which he was paid a salary of thirty dollars.

On one occasion, he was singing "Amor Perdido" (Lost Love), without knowing that the composer of the song Pedro Flores was in the audience.

Among the songs he recorded were: "Perdon"; "Amor"; "El Ultimo Adios" "Si Yo Fuera Millonario" by singer/composer Miguel Poventud and Borracho no Vale'.

Santos recorded "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a farewell song written by Flores from the viewpoint of an Army recruit who had to leave behind his girlfriend and his ailing mother, which became a hit.

[3] Santos recalled in an interview once that he had to hold back tears while recording the song, since his draft papers had just arrived and he would soon have to live a situation similar to what the song's lyrics described, but that a friend started mocking him at the control booth, to which he decided to curse him on the spot, trading the word mama'o (an extremely vulgar term in Puerto Rican Spanish) for mamá (mother).

His first successful single was titled Bigote de Gato, based on an area of Havana named "Luyano", which was infamous for serving as the home for fortune tellers.

[2] Santos was subsequently pardoned by Prío Socarrás, but he asked to remain in jail twelve additional days to spend the Christmas celebration with some of the inmates.

[2] While in prison he composed a single named El Preso and was asked to write Amnistía as part of a campaign to promote the well-being of inmates.

In 1958, forbidden by Batista from returning to the island, he composed the song "Sierra Maestra", which borrowed parts of the official hymn of the 26th of July Movement.

[2] In 1954, he returned to Puerto Rico and performed in hotels located in San Juan before continuing his tour throughout America which extended from 1955 to 1956.

[7] During his third presentation Santos lost his voice without completing the scheduled show, he tried to explain the situation to the public but was unable to calm them down and a riot erupted.

On July 22, 1972 he performed in the inauguration ceremony of El Balcon del Pueblo, a building owned by Radio Cristal, which was located at Guayaquil.

While he performed with the Sonora Matancera, Santos suffered a heart attack while he was sleeping in a hotel located in La Reforma after eating dinner.

[2] Despite his health he made final presentations in some of Puerto Rico's municipalities where he received recognitions in San Juan and Ponce.

In 1947, he married Cuban socialite Eugenia Pérez Portal, who gave him his first son in 1948, Daniel Jr. After this he was involved in several relationships with women of several Latin American countries, on occasions having more than one consecutively.

He is buried at what is virtually Puerto Rico's national pantheon Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan, geographically quite close to where Albizu Campos and Pedro Flores were interred.

[9] His life was also the subject of four biographical books: Mi Vida Entera (2020) written by his daughter Danilú Santos-Price,;[10] Vengo a decirle adiós a los muchachos (1989) by Josean Ramos;[11] La importancia de llamarse Daniel Santos (1988), by Luis Rafael Sánchez,[12] El Inquieto Anacobero, by Salvador Garmendia.