The year after, he recorded Vuela Muy Alto (She Flies High) which brought him a new fanbase all over Latin-America and the U.S., with the title track hit the top spot and the top 10 in many charts. In 2001, he released his self-titled album Jerry Rivera, which would include ballad songs for the first time in his salsa career, and Quiero (I Want) would be the only hit. He has performed in Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, the United States, Spain and Japan. This was his album on Sony Latin records. In 2000, Rivera recorded Para Siempre ('Forever'), and the hits were Amor de Novela, Navegándote, and Puerta Abierta. Jerry sang the song with his father at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. In 1999, Rivera recorded De Otra Manera ('Another Way'), which featured the bolero Ese. In 1996, Rivera released "Fresco" and Una y Mil Veces (One Thousand and One Tries) became another hit for Rivera.
In 1994, as his popularity was rising, he released his first compilation album, Lo Nuevo y lo Mejor (The New and the Best), and contained the single hit Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti. In 1993, he released Cara de Niño ('Baby Face') with Que Hay De Malo ('That There of Bad') and Cara de Niño as hits.
The introduction of Amores Como El Nuestro was sampled by Haitian-rapper Wyclef Jean in his 2004 song "Dance Like This" from the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights which would later become the worldwide number-one 2006 hit "Hips Don't Lie" by Colombian-singer Shakira and Wyclef, too. Rivera was awarded two Premio Lo Nuestro Awards for "Singer of the Year" and "Album of the Year" and Sony Records presented him with three Crystal Awards. The number one hit for the album was Amores Como El Nuestro (Loves Like Ours) which is considered to be the best song by Rivera. Its hit songs included the Cuenta Conmigo, Me Estoy Enamorado ('I am in Love') and Casi Un Hechizo. It became the most-sold salsa album in history, a record previously held by Willie Colon, and held the number-one spot in the Latin American Billboards for three consecutive months. His third album, Cuenta Conmigo ('Count on Me'), won three Platinum Record awards in the United States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia. His second album, Abriendo Puertas ('Opening Doors'), produced the hit songs Esa Niña ('That Girl'), Dime ('Tell Me') and Como un Milagro ('Like a Miracle') became number one hits first in Puerto Rico, then among the Hispanic populations in the United States and finally across Latin America. This project generated the hit, De La Cabeza A Los Pies (loosely translates to "From Head To Toes"). With his first album, Empezando A Vivir, Jerry Rivera earned the title "El Bebé de la Salsa" (the salsa baby). When Jerry was 14, his father made a demo and presented it to the CBS music department. In 1988, Tommy Olivencia heard Rivera sing alongside his father and recommended that he sing solo. In 2003 this picture was used by Rivera to make the album cover for his tribute Canto a mi Idolo… Frankie Ruiz ('I sing to my Idol… Frankie Ruiz'), who had died in 1998. Ruiz, who was a guest at the hotel, appeared and sang a couple of songs with them and had his picture taken alongside Rivera. In 1986, when he was 13 years old, he accompanied his father who was performing at a hotel in Isla Verde, San Juan. His favorite singers are Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodriguez and, in particular, Frankie Ruiz. His parents, also musicians, inspired him to become a musician and as a child he would often accompany his mother Dominga, a singer, and father Edwin, a guitarist and director of Los Barones Trio, during their shows. In an interview with Maria Conchita Alonso (for "Al día con Maria Conchita"), Jerry talks about how sure his father was that he would succeed. Siblings include Saned, Edwin, Ito, and José, who all have careers in salsa (one of his brothers was with Puerto Rican Power). Jerry is originally from Humacao, Puerto Rico, but he grew up in Levittown, near Toa Baja on the central northern coast of the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.
Geraldo Rivera Rodriguez was born on July 31, 1973.