The Ministry of Culture will hold an official tribute in honor of late merengue icon Rubby Pérez, whose sudden death in the JetSet Club tragedy has shocked the nation.
On Tuesday, 8 April 2025, Rubby Perez’s family confirmed the death. He had kept singing to help rescuers find him. His daughter, who was performing on stage as part of the concert survived, but his saxophonist Luis Solis, is also reported dead.
The memorial will take place this Thursday, 10 April 2025 at the National Theater in Santo Domingo. The solemn ceremony running from 10am to 4pm will be a tribute to the beloved merengue singer. The tribute will be held with the artist’s body present, where fans and colleagues may pay their final respects.
Rubby Pérez will later be laid to rest at 5pm at Puerta del Cielo Cemetery.
The farewell has been organized by Vice Minister of Creativity and Artistic Training, Amaury Sánchez, in collaboration with various cultural and artistic institutions.
The event is expected to draw numerous figures from the music industry, cultural authorities, fellow artists, and devoted fans, all coming together to celebrate the life and legacy of one of merengue’s most beloved voices.
More than just a farewell, the tribute aims to honor Pérez’s immense contributions to Dominican music and preserve his memory as a vital part of the nation’s cultural heritage.
On the tragic evening of 8 April 2025, Rubby Perez singing merengues with his orchestra was the main draw of the evening. Media reports that among the dead were two buses that had arrived from Haina with his fans. 25 people who had come from Haina for the show died in the tragedy, including 11 of the Haineros Dorados fan group.
69-year old Roberto Antonio Pérez Herrera (Rubby Perez) was born in Haina, in western Santo Domingo, on 8 March 1956. Singing was his second career. He initially aspired to be a professional baseball player but that dream was cut short on 13 June 1972 after he fractured his right leg. He was 15 years old. His brother Neifi Pérez would go on to a successful MLB career.
El Dia explains as of 1977, he participated with amateur bands in Haina and Bani, from where he discovered by leading merengue orchestra heads, including Fernandito Villalona and Los Hijos del Rey (Cholo Brenes). He would get his big break when he landed as the lead vocalist of Wilfrido Vargas’ orchestra before embarking on a highly successful solo career as of 1986.
Billboard explains that Rubby Pérez made his first appearance on the Billboard charts with his self-titled debut album, which peaked at No. 15 on Tropical Albums in 1987. His hit single “Enamorado De Ella” earned him his first and only entry on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, debuting and peaking at No. 29 in 1989. Pérez also achieved success on Tropical Airplay, landing four entries over the years. Among them, “Tú Vas a Volar” reached a career-high at No. 9 in 2001.
Most recently, Pérez collaborated with Romeo Santos, Toño Rosario, Fernandito Villalona on “15,500 Noches,” featuring Ramón Orlando. The song marked his final Billboard charting contribution, climbing to No. 13 on Tropical Airplay in 2022.
He had just received the Soberano al Merito award at the Soberano Awards, the most important in Dominican show business, on 25 March 2025. That evening he performed a section with his iconic songs, including “Volvere” (I will return).
An interview on the Show de Silvio shows his inspired spirituality and is almost a presage of his early departure. In the segment on Esta Noche con Maria
Rubby Pérez’s saxophone player Luis Solis also died in the collapse.
Read more:
El Caribe
Listin Diario
Billboard
Diario Libre
Esta Noche con Mariasela
Volvere
10 April 2025