1980–1989: A&M Records, and breakthrough While still studying at the university, Porter became a staff arranger at
A&M Records when the label opened a Latin division called AyM Discos in 1982. There, he met Juan Carlos Calderon, the composer and arranger for Mexican singer
Luis Miguel. This led the way for Porter's production of
Maria Conchita Alonso's albums,
Mírame and
Hazme Sentir. Other artists he worked with at A&M include
La Mafia,
Emmanuel (singer), Luis Angel and Luis Miguel. In addition to working with Spanish-speaking artists, this period marked the beginning of his career of writing, translating and producing recordings for English-speaking artists including
Grover Washington Jr. and
Phyllis Hyman ("Sacred Kind of Love"), Nancy Wilson ("That's What I Remember"), and Anne Murray ("Are you Still in Love With Me"). "I think I understand more than a lot of people what it's like as a native English speaker to have to learn Spanish," he told the
Los Angeles Times. "I know how to teach people to pronounce the words. I feel like right now I'm kind of sharing with the people of the United States the excitement I felt hearing all of these Latin rhythms for the first time." He produced
Ana Gabriel, and
Ednita Nazario. He went on to produce a total of three more Nazario albums in the coming years. In 1991, Porter produced the first album for the nine-piece Argentine band
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Called
El León, the album included performances by
Flaco Jimenez,
Luis Conte and
Gustavo Santaolalla. The next year, when the band finished touring, he put together a 17-track greatest hits package with two bonus tracks, "Quinto Centenario" and "Matador" (which has become a classic song in Argentina, and something of a latinamerican popular hymn), eventually contributing to double-platinum sales. Late in 1993,
Tejano singer
Selena and New York Latin pop band the
Barrio Boyzz, met in Porter's studio to record together the song "Donde Quiera Que Estés." Written by Porter and Marco A. Flores, and produced by Porter, the song debuted at number one on the
Billboard Hot Latin chart in March 1994. Porter also produced songs on other Selena albums:
Amor Prohibido ("Donde Quiera que Estes"), and her English-language crossover album,
Dreaming of You ("Wherever You Are"). and sold three million copies. Its follow-up album,
Vuelve, another Porter production, sold more than seven million copies. A song from
Vuelve, called "The Cup of Life", was used as the anthem of the
World Cup France '98, and went to number one in
China,
Australia,
Mexico, and
Germany, among other countries. Martin and Porter continued to work together including on the popular eponymous album,
Ricky Martin, the
Puerto Rican singer's English debut in May 1999, Porter continued the work crossing over English-language artists into the Spanish market by translating
Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" and producing the track for them in 1993. He did the same with
Toni Braxton's hit song, "Un-break My Heart," and then recorded her Spanish version of it, "Regresa a Mi", in October 1996. The 1997, Porter-produced
Fabulosos Calavera album from Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, won the 1998 Grammy for Best Alternative Latin Rock Group Album, the first time that the National Academy of Recorded Arts and Sciences rewarded rock in Spanish. A year later, the band won the
Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Group for the album,
La Marcha del Golazo Solitario, which he also produced.
1999–2002: Santana, Grammy Awards, and Michael Jackson Porter began writing with
Carlos Santana in 1997, and when the latter was recording his
Supernatural album, two songs from those earlier sessions—"Corazon Espinado" and "Migra"—were included on it. Porter co-produced the album and it was released in June 1999. and was
Album of the Year at the
41st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 1999. In addition to this award, Porter also won a Latin Grammy that year for his production of "Corazon Espinado" on
Supernatural. Porter then teamed up with
Rami Yacoub and
Andreas Carlsson, notably Swedish Songwriters from the hugely successful production site Cheiron from Stockholm. Together they composed a Latin styled pop song ("Soledad") for
Westlife's second studio album,
Coast to Coast, which was released in 2000. Porter's co-produced Italian singer
Laura Pausini's album
Entre Tu y Mil Mares, which was nominated for
Best Female Pop Vocal Album at the Latin Grammy Awards. The single he worked on was "un error de los grandes." The next year, Porter worked again with Pausini on her first English-language album,
From the Inside. The album, which he also co-produced and executive produced, was released in November. LARAS, the
Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences named Porter the Producer of the Year in 2001. In 2002,
salsa singer
La India, who Porter called "the new surprise of Latin America," released her
Latin Songbird: Mi Alma y Corazón album, which he produced along with
Emilio Estefan Jr., and Isidro Infante. She expanded her musical style by recording both a Spanish and an English version of the song, "sedúceme". Porter's pop version in Spanish went to number one on the
Billboard Latin Singles chart. Porter continued his professional work with Santana by producing "One of These Days" featuring Ozomatli on his
Shaman album released in 2002. Throughout the decade, Porter continued to cross over mainstream artists to the Spanish-language markets with productions of songs by
Jerry Rivera ("Primavera" with Santana),
Bon Jovi ("Bed of Roses" and "This Ain't A Love Song"),
Janet Jackson ("Come Back to Me"),
Brian McKnight, ("Back at One"),
Scorpions ("Winds of Change"),
Geri Halliwell ("Mi Chico Latino"),
Sting ("Mad About You"), and others. The album sold half a million copies and was certified gold. "'When You Smile' is fueled by Latin-grooved percussion from tub-thumper Sheila E. and a serpentinely sexy guitar solo from Carlos Santana," wrote the
Washington Post. Over the decade, Porter performed live and recorded with Chinese
erhu player
Cheng Lin on the
Embrace the World Vol. 1 album. He also produced Lin's album
Greater than Gold,
Algerian pop artist
Khaled's "Love to the People" single featuring Carlos Santana, and
Iraqi singer
Kadim Al-Saher and
Paula Cole on the single "Love and Compassion". In February 2006, Porter welcomed Latin rock band,
Ozomatli to his
Calabasas, California, studio to record ''Don't Mess with the Dragon'', their March 2007 release. The band and Porter had a history together that began when the producer invited them to guest on Santana's 2002
Shaman album. The following year, Porter co-wrote and produced "Love and Hope" and "(Who Discovered) America", for Ozomalti's
Street Signs album. With ''Don't Mess with the Dragon'', "Ozomatli and Porter baked up an album that reflects the band's diverse ethnic makeup and 'oppositional politics' (how it characterizes its brand of activism). But even more fundamentally, the members of Ozomatli believe in the politics of dancing."
2010–present: Solo artist On August 2, 2013, Porter released his first solo album,
Where the Soul is Born, on Insignia Records. The record, aka
De Donde Nace El Alma has bilingual songs and features twelve tracks that are spiritually inspired in his belief in the oneness of humanity. Many of the songs were co-written with
JB Eckl, Porter's song collaborator for Santana. "Canto", originally written and demoed by the duo for Santana is included on
Where the Soul is Born with Porter's vocals. "La Pared," the first single from Porter's next solo album,
Cruzanderos, was released August 2, 2019, and features singer
Allison Iraheta and
rapper Olmeca on the "pop,
tropical and
reggaeton" song. The album of twelve songs, released November 1, 2019, thematically "tells the stories about people seeking freedom, or fleeing the violence of their countries, stories and struggles that, according to the musician, need to be told." Other songs include a new version of "Canto", with
Colombian marimba-inspired group Herencia de Timbiquí; "Quisiera", with
Guatemalan singer
Gaby Moreno; "El viajero"; "Pasaporte" (with Puerto Rican singer
La India); "Virgen del sol" (with
Argentine musician-composer
Gustavo Santaolalla); "Mártires"; "Tanta locura"; "Será"; "24 horas"; and "Ruiseñor". Porter is a former member of the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) and the Board of Trustees of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS). ==Films==