Arthur Hanlon

Born to Irish-American parents, Arthur Hanlon is a pop pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, who found his calling in Latin music. Arthur is best known as the first and only pianist to each No. 1 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay charts and certainly the only non Latin to top the chart. Today, Arthur is arguably the best known Latin pop pianist, and plays a mix of Detroit streets and virtuosity, Latin fusion and bluesy vibes.

Born to Irish-American parents, Arthur Hanlon is a pop pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, who found his calling in Latin music. Arthur is best known as the first and only pianist to each No. 1 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay charts and certainly the only non Latin to top the chart. Today, Arthur is arguably the best known Latin pop pianist, and plays a mix of Detroit streets and virtuosity, Latin fusion and bluesy vibes.

Arthur started playing the piano at six, and at 15, was already playing professional gigs with Detroit’s leading bands. Arthur went on to get a master's in piano performance at Manhattan School of Music in New York, and there, he discovered Latin music, playing classical gigs by day and Latin gigs by night. Arthur released his first album, "Encuentros," independently, and distributed through Universal via a licensing with indie Max Music. It was an album of all original compositions that ranged from bluesy instrumentals to lyrical, Spanish language ballads.

It got the attention of Fonovisa, the leading Latin music indie at the time, and they signed him to a multi-album deal. With Fonovisa, Arthur released "El Piano Aamarillo," a set of covers and original compositions set to contemporary, often funky arrangements and produced by Estefano, one of the top Latin proudcers in the market. He then went on to record "11 Numeros Uno," a set of cover arrangements of songs that had made it to No. 1 on the charts.

More classically arranged, it displayed Arthur's virtuosity and sense of lyricism. His following album, "La Gorda Linda," featured the hit single of the same name, featuring tropical singer Tito Nieves. The track climbed up the tropical and dance charts and earned Arthur two Billboard Latin Music nominations. "La Gorda Linda" also featured duets with trumpet great Arturo Sandoval and Mexican singer Ana Barbara.

Arthur then recorded a concept album, "Mecanomania," a collection of tracks by Spanish pop group Mecano, set to chill-out arrangements. The much acclaimed album, out on EMI, led to his newest recording, which will be released on Universal this year. It will feature all original compositions and collaborations with some of Latin music's biggest star. The roster of guest acts has yet to be announced, but Arthur has already been playing a few showcases.

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