Following a brief subsequent stint in California, he returned to New York and joined the band Maggie's Dream, which split after only one album, allowing him to resume his solo career.

Rosa has been highly influenced by the works of Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Luis Alberto Spinetta, The Doors, Camarón de la Isla, Horacio Quiroga, Caetano Veloso, Glenn Danzig, Edgar Allan Poe and Jim Morrison.

In 1996, he released the Latino alternative rock album Vagabundo produced by Phil Manzanera before helping launch Ricky Martin's musical career into a new global setting with Vuelve.

Rosa wrote and produced various of Martin's hit singles including "María", "Livin' la Vida Loca", "She's All I Ever Had", "The Cup of Life", "She Bangs" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon", among others.

This kept Rosa in a hiatus for almost a year until his return in March 2012, when he started recording his latest album with Vida, and gave a concert with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.

[9] As the only member of Menudo who had a native grasp of English, Rosa sang lead vocals on many of the English-language tracks released by the group, including their stateside hit, "Hold Me".

After moving to Barra Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Rosa spent time with local artists, adding to his musical education.

Rosa wrote, produced and performed two songs ("Angela" and "Little Woman") for the soundtrack of the latter film, which was released by RCA Records under his publishing company, Ceiba Tree Music.

In between solo projects, Rosa worked on Ricky Martin's A Medio Vivir under the pseudonym Ian Blake by co-writing and co-producing the majority of the songs on the album,[12] including the hit single "María", which made it to the Billboard Top 10.

The 1996 release of his second album, Vagabundo, recorded in England and produced by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, has been hailed as a "tour de force of introspective haunting tunes".

Phantom Vox filmed and edited the video for "Commitment #4", a track Rosa composed and recorded in dedication to the removal of the United States Navy from the island–municipality of Vieques, for bombing training in many parts of the island.

Between 1998 and 1999, Rosa wrote and recorded Ricky Martin's second eponymous album and the first in English, which includes the popular single "Livin' la Vida Loca".

With most songs in English, collaborations with musicians from all over the world and the music videos for "Dancing in the Rain" and "Lie Without a Lover" (both directed by Angela Alvarado Rosa), Mad Love debuted at No.

During the tour he visited several major US cities, as well as Japan, Singapore, England, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Panama, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, among others.

[citation needed] In Bogota, Colombia in particular, he closed the 2004 Rock al Parque, a multitudinous all-day musical extravaganza with a crowd of 150,000 people.

[17] Rosa ended the tour in his native Puerto Rico, where he sold out the island's recently opened new 18,000-seat arena, José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.

[citation needed] Titled "Draco al Natural", the concert was the basis for a CD/DVD, offering a full-length documentary of the live performance directed by Rosa's wife, Angela Alvarado, and released in 2005.

Songs like "Esto es Vida", "Amores de mi Calle" and "Espejismo" have the old-school feel of mountain music of yesteryear.

A successful tour followed culminating in Rock in Rio in Madrid, where Rosa shared the main stage with Jane's Addiction and Rage Against the Machine.

On January 28, 2012, Rosa made a comeback to the public light after his long absence due to cancer treatment to announce a concert in which he will be sharing the stage with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades.

[21] As a thank you to messages of hope and recovery, Rosa released the music video to an unpublished version of his own rendition of "Silent Night" in both English and Spanish on December 23, 2012, filmed at his California residence.

[30] The 2013 edition of the San Sebastian St. Festival, considered to be Puerto Rico's final Christmas celebration, was dedicated to Draco for his outstanding career.

Two days after, Draco and Mexican band Maná performed "Penélope" together at the 2013 Billboard Latin Music Awards, held at the BankUnited Center in Miami on April 25, 2013.

[36] After making his first ever appearance at the Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 9, 2013, and performing at the Copacabana in Times Square on May 11, 2013, Draco confirmed that he will film the music video for duet of "Esto Es Vida" with Juan Luis Guerra in the Dominican Republic which he appraised during his illness as one of his "best compositions".

[43][44] Draco announced that due to overwhelming demand, a second concert date was added for December 7, 2013, which featured other guest artists performing alongside him.

He also owns Hacienda Horizonte in the mountains of Utuado, where his recording studio was relocated to[49] and where the music videos for "Paraíso Prometido" and "Reza Por Mí" from the album Amor Vincit Omnia have been filmed.

On April 9, 2001, Rosa was arrested alongside Senator Luis Gutiérrez, Edward James Olmos, Robert Kennedy Jr. and other protesters for civil disobedience when they invaded the US Navy's security zone surrounding the island-municipality of Vieques.

[56] A routine test taken while on tour, led to the diagnosis of a diffuse B-cell lymphoma, non-Hodgkin type, which his doctors consider he may recover from again.

[59] On August 23, 2018, Rosa announced by way of a video post on Instagram that after his last check-up examinations he is completely cancer-free, information that was corroborated by his manager Wanda Troche.

The Grammy Award is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement on the music industry.