[1] Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez was acknowledged to be a child prodigy in music, becoming interested in this topic since his early childhood.
He returned to San Juan in 1946, to study at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, there he joined the ROTC band directed by Rafael Alers.
[2] With Los Panchos, Rodriguez's fame expanded beyond Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America, as the group made several tours that also included Spain, Portugal, Italy and even Israel and Lebanon in the Middle East.
Rodriguez, as a composer, wrote one of the classics of the Latin American bolero repertory: Mar y cielo (Sea and Sky).
By 1975, Rodriguez had once again moved on, this time around to form "Los Tres Grandes" ("The Three Great Ones"), alongside Tato Díaz and Miguel Alcaide.
Rodriguez died in his home in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, at age 87 in on July 27, 2013, due to health complications.