He was born of humble origins in one of the deepest Afro-Rican culture zones—Santurce, Puerto Rico, the home of many of the island's most popular musicians and now part of the modern metropolitan area of San Juan.
With a repertoire that emphasized the bolero and looked to progressive song movements, he was an emblematic figure of the bohemia of the 1970s that based itself at the nightclub in Viejo San Juan called Ocho Puertas (Eight Doors).
On 15 September 1987 he performed a successful duo concert with Michel Camilo at the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan, called "Danny regresa a Ocho Puertas" (Danny returns to Ocho Puertas) As his work became increasingly socially, spiritually, and historically conscious, he continued recording and touring internationally, but found himself less in step with the Latin music industry.
Still, in the late 1980s he signed with Sony Music and recorded the successful album "Amar o morir", as well as "Subiendo y bajando" with Gilberto Santa Rosa, but increasingly he devoted himself to his social projects.
In 2009, Rivera sang "Madrigal", "Tu pueblo es mi pueblo", and "Amar o morir" before 1.2 million listeners in Havana (almost all of them wearing all white) at the Paz Sin Fronteras concert organized by Juanes; the concert was seen throughout the hemisphere and in Europe by millions of television and online viewers, the biggest Latin music broadcast event ever.
[citation needed] In March 5, 2020, Danny Rivera was the featured singer on Norberto Vélez's YouTube channel titled "Sesiones Desde La Loma Ep.