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Legendary guitarist Eddie Benitez was
born in Puerto Rico on November 12, 1962. Soon after his birth, his
family relocated to Europe. Raised in Italy and Spain, his father
Francisco arranged private lessons for Eddie from the legendary
classical guitar virtuoso, Andres Segovia. The Benitez family was
unaware that their move to New York in 1968 would set the stage for
the start of Eddie’s extraordinary music career—one that would be
launched onto the world stage when he was still just a young teen.
On August 6, 1976, Eddie Benitez debuted with his first concert at
Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 fans. He was just 14 years
old. The music sensation of Eddie Benitez started that same year
when he signed with Fania/CBS records and released his first album
'Nightlife', which went gold. Six months later saw another hit with
1977’s 'Essence of Life', also going gold. In 1983, Eddie signed
with the innovative label, Island Records, which produced another
hit, “Spirtis”. He has performed with legendary stars such as
“Father of Smooth Jazz”—George Benson, Barry White, Celia Cruz, Tito
Puente, Mongo Santamaria and many others, throughout his career.
Eddie’s performing career came to a sudden halt when Eddie was
diagnosed with Hodgkin’s at the young age of 23. This changed his
life forever as he survived the cancer and took time off to reflect
on life and spirituality. He continued to write music over the years
for many dance acts in the mid 80s through the early 90s. His music
is a blend of Nu-Jazz, New Age, and Latin written from his heart and
filled with love, passion, and devotion.
Throughout his life, Eddie has had many spiritual visions, including
those that occurred while overcoming a heart attack and an
unexplained 3-day coma. Eddie has experienced a level of healing in
these experiences that mystifies doctors and which he understands in
a spiritual dimension. Along with his own healings and visions have
come healings for others for whom he has prayed. So mysterious and
powerful have these been, it caused him to come under investigation
in 1993 by MUFON and other Government agencies regarding massive
healings in his Florida home. 'There is no healer, but faith in God,
Christ and in yourself,' Eddie told the investigators.
'Fans claiming to see angels on stage' . . . , When Eddie Benitez
brought his legendary guitar playing to a private show in Phoenix,
Arizona in 2003, angels were the topic of discussion by many people
in attendance who claimed to see angelic beings on stage while Eddie
performed. This event caught the notice of the media and several
movie production companies. Eddie has been asked to do a reality
show for the A&E Channel in 2008.
One of Eddie's spiritual experiences was a haunting that was
documented and recreated for the Discovery Channel series A
Haunting—“Casa de los Muertos,” by New Dominion Pictures. The
episode also features Eddie’s music, past and present. The show
originally aired October 26, 2007 and was the series’ first
minority-based episode. It recounts the story of Eddie’s battle with
an unknown force that possessed his oldest son. Re-airings of the
show are to be announced in 2008 for the U.S., along with a schedule
for international viewing. The hit series “A Haunting.” produced by
New Dominion Pictures, has a total of 4 seasons for the Discovery
Channel, and “Casa de los Muertos” was rated as the 1 episode by the
Nielsen Ratings. (The lead role in this episode was played by
Eddie's son, Julian Sosa, who auditioned and got the role with his
relation to Eddie unbeknownst to New Dominion Pictures).
With the overwhelming response to the show airing over Halloween
weekend, “Eddie Benitez” was 37 on the “Google Hot Trend List” on
Oct 28, 2007 (Google Trend captures the top 100 searches for the
day), outranking such searches as “World Series Champions,”
Nostradamus, Daylight Savings questions, various Halloween searches
and many more. (Web address for Google Trend – October 28, 2007
www.google.com/trends/hottrends?q=eddie+benitez&date=2007-10-28&sa=X
)
Eddie appeared as a special guest on blogtalkradio.com on November
20, 2007, which was one of four top featured shows for the day. This
show was also featured in “Weekly Best of BTR for November 19” (top
20 shows for the week, with a couple thousand broadcasted weekly).
blog.blogtalkradio.com/2007/11/25/weekly-best-of-btr-for-november-19/
Eddie Benitez is now known for being the Most Sensual Guitarist of
our time, an accolade Downbeat Magazine once bestowed on him and
which has become synonymous with his name. Eddie's Music has
attracted many new fans through his MySpace page—www.myspace.com/eddiebenitez.
Eddie's close friends like the members of Earth Wind and Fire,
George Benson, Howard Hewitt, Mel Carter and many more have praised
his new Music as a sound that takes Smooth Jazz to a new level.
“Lover’s Never Say Good-bye”, Eddie’s latest CD featuring the hit,
“They Cry”. This CD is for those who loved and lost, and those who
found that ultimate love that we all desire and dream about
Eddie’s current projects for 2008: “Angels on My Stage Tour”—
Anticipated worldwide tour in 2008/2009, with current negotiations
for a featured “Concert at the Pyramid,” Giza Egypt. Anticipated
sell-out concerts due to the rare public appearance of Eddie Benitez
in various countries. Eddie has also been asked by various
organizations to appear as a speaker.
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