About Ryan Duarte

The story of this San Jose, California native is quite surreal. Ryan Duarte had little interest in singing when he was a youth. The son of an R&B backup singer, (his mother had performed backup vocals on MC Hammers Too Legit To Quit Tour and sung with various gospel groups) I remember watching Boyz II Men and Jodeci on television and they inspired me to try singing, he says. Ryan Duarte embarked on a full fledged solo career that, early on, awarded him a Best Male Pop Vocalist accolade in an online competition called Tonos which involved music movers and shakers, Babyface and Rodney Jerkins. The buzz increased as the singer came up with the innovative idea of selling his independent records online, much like underground hip-hop artists do. One of the songs that would seal his fate was the soulful, passionate, mid tempo tune You. There was a competition on Wild 94.9s (the ..1 Crossover station in the Bay area) The Dog House morning show, he explains, It was called Bay Idol, a spin-off of American Idol and people really liked the song You. The national success of the independently released You resulted in a top seven position on the radio for two weeks. Since his humble beginnings as a teenager who simply wanted to succeed at sports or help save lives, he has had a gift for being a man of the people. Even with his song You, it was the listeners who selected him. Not only does this prove that there is a musical democracy out there, it shows that the masses have a keen eye for talent. I think the fact that everyone liked the song and requested it, was such a good thing, Ryan Duarte offers, by them choosing my song, it was totally a blessing.