Early career (1982–1989) Acosta formed La Renovación Quisqueyana (The Quisqueyan Renovation/Renewal) along with members from the church choir he was a part of. This group had characteristics similar to another merengue group Los Paymasi. Two years later, Acosta left the group to join another group called Los Gentiles (The Gentle Ones), who were considered the most refined group in the city of
Bonao at the time. In the late 1980s, Acosta worked for Dominican merengue band
Los Hermanos Rosario (The Rosario Brothers). He worked as a back-up vocalist and covered for one of its members,
Toño Rosario, who at the time took a leave of absence due to legal issues. Also, Acosta's voice at the time resembled Toño's voice. He would eventually meet the band's manager Gerardo Díaz, known as El Toro (The Bull), who would eventually also become his manager as he would convince Acosta to be part of the band that would be known as Los Toros Band. Acosta left The Rosario Brothers to be the lead singer of Díaz's band.
Los Toros Band (1990–2006) In 1990, Los Toros Band (The Bull Band) was formed and released their debut album
Se Soltaron Los Toros (The Bulls Have Released Themselves). The album gained huge success on radio. On May 4, 1991, Acosta would officially start doing presentations as the lead vocalist and leader of the band and would start making appearances at concerts, parties, and on TV shows. Since then, they gained success with multiple merengue hits. Later on they would release bachata songs that would eventually establish the group to be seen as a bachata band as well, thus giving them international fame in the process. In 2006, he would depart from the band to pursue a solo career. Prior to his departure there were issues between him and the record label Los Toros Records (The Bull Records), which was owned by Gerardo Díaz and his brother Juan Pablo Díaz. From late 2005 to early 2006, Acosta was in a legal battle to get out of his contract. Also, the group was not allowed to perform live or the record label would sue them. Eventually, an agreement was made and Acosta was no longer a member of Los Toros Band.
Starting a solo career, more international exposure, and becoming a bachata star (2006–2009) In late 2006, he embarked in a solo career and signed with D.A.M. Productions. On October 24, 2006, he released his debut solo album
Sigo Siendo Yo (
I Continue Being Me). It peaked at number 19 on the
Billboard Tropical Albums chart. A special edition was released on March 25, 2009, which featured music videos and a photo gallery. The special edition was distributed by
Venemusic and Universal Music Latin Entertainment. These labels would eventually distribute his albums. This was a predominantly merengue album and featured the merengue single "¿Cómo Me Curo?" ("How Do I Cure Myself?"). Even though this is mostly a merengue album, it featured two bachata singles that became the most successful songs from the album. The singles were "Primavera Azul" ("Blue Spring") and "
Me Voy" ("I'm Leaving"), which was written by
Romeo Santos and it is a bachata cover of a merengue song by
Aventura. Later on, Romeo, who was the group's lead singer, was featured in a remix of the cover, which was added to another album. They would perform the song together at
Aventura's concert at
Madison Square Garden. The live performance was featured on the group's third live album
Kings of Bachata: Sold Out at Madison Square Garden. With the success Acosta was gaining in bachata, he started to make albums with more bachata songs. His next albums would either be hybrids of bachata and merengue, or predominantly bachata. He released his second solo album
Mitad / Mitad (
Half / Half) on April 15, 2008, and it was distributed by
Venevision International Music and
Machete Music. It features a cover of
Jorge Celedón's song "Sin Perdón" which became a number one hit on the
Billboard Tropical Songs chart. It also features the single "Con Que Ojos" ("With What Eyes"). On the
Billboard charts, the album peaked at number 62 on the
Top Latin Albums chart, and at number 5 on the
Tropical Albums chart. It was certified
gold in the U.S. by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 30,000 copies in the US. The album also featured a song of reggaeton and bachata with Latin rap group El Pueblo. In the same year, he released his first concert film
En Vivo (
Live). In the same year, Acosta and Celedón performed a duet titled "Me Vió Llorar" ("Saw Me Weep") which is bachata and vallenato mixed song. It reached number one on the
Billboard Tropical Songs. He then was featured in the song "Vicio Del Pecado" ("Vice Of Sin") by Puerto Rican duo
R.K.M & Ken-Y as part of the duo's second studio album
The Royalty: La Realeza. On May 26, 2009, he released his third album
Simplemente... El Torito (
Simply... The Little Bull). It featured collaborations with Marcy Place, Bachata Heightz,
Don Omar, and
R.K.M & Ken-Y. It gain more success then the previous album as it was certified
gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 50,000 copies in the United States. On the
Billboard charts, it peaked at number 21 on the
Heatseekers Albums chart, at number 20 on the
Top Latin Albums chart, and at number 2 on the
Tropical Albums chart. The album included the singles "Me Vio Llorar" ("She Saw Me Cry") bachata only version, "No Me Lloren" ("Don't Cry For Me"), "Me Puedo Matar" ("I Could Die") with Bachata Heightz, and "Tu Primera Vez" ("Your First Time"), along with a remix featuring reggaeton duo
R.K.M & Ken-Y.
Oblígame, Con El Corazón Abierto, and La Historia... Mis Exitos (2010–2014) In 2010 he released his first solo compilation album
The Ultimate Bachata Collection. It is a greatest hits album containing his greatest hits as a solo artist and bachata hits from his time in Los Toros Band. In the same year, he released his second concert film
Una Noche con El Torito (
One Night with El Torito). On October 19, 2010, he released his fourth studio album
Oblígame (
Obligate Me). It featured a collaboration with Mexican singer
Alejandro Fernández in a bachata version of Fernández's song "
Se Me Va La Voz" ("I Lose My Voice"). It sold 30,000 copies in the U.S., thus being certified
gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It included the single "Me Duele La Cabeza" (My Head Hurts), which on the
Billboard charts, it peaked number 47 on the
Hot Latin Songs chart, and at number 3 on the
Tropical Airplay chart. In 2011, he released his second compilation album
The Ultimate Merengue Collection. The album contained studio and live versions of merengue hit songs from his solo career and from Los Toros Band. On August 21, 2012, he released his fifth studio album
Con El Corazón Abierto (
With An Open Heart). It featured a collaboration with Mexican-American singer
Pepe Aguilar. On the
Billboard charts, it peaked at number 33 on the
Heatseekers Albums chart, at number 16 on the
Top Latin Albums chart, and at number 3 on the
Tropical Albums chart. Its lead single "Tu Veneno" ("Your Venom") peaked at number 42 on the
Hot Latin Songs chart and at number 1 on the
Tropical Airplay chart, thus becoming his third number-one single on the chart. It also peaked at number 1 on the
Billboard Tropical Airplay. The song became a success as a meme due to the line "se murio" (It died). On November 1, 2018, he was featured in the bachata version of the single "Mala Suerte" ("Bad Luck") by Puerto Rican Urban artist
Jory Boy. On October 11, 2019, he released the single "Con Los Ojos Cerrados" ("With The Eyes Closed") with Dominican merengue singer
Milly Quezada. On November 29, 2019, he then released the greatest hits album,
Los Número Uno (
The Number Ones). On May 20, 2022, He released his seventh studio album
Este Soy Yo (
This is Me). It includes the singles "Antes del Lunes" ("Before Monday"), "Yo Sé" ("I Know"), "Pa' Que Me Perdones" ("So You Can Forgive Me"), and "Pecador" ("Sinner"). These singles were released between 2019 and 2022. On March 7, 2023, he released "Somos Dominicanos" ("We're Dominicans") with Dominican rapper El Piro. On August 10, 2023, he released the song "La Despedida" ("The Farewell") with Ecuadorian pop singer Javier Neira and Mexican singer Alan Ramírez. == Discography ==