Mourners pay tribute to merengue icon Rubby Pérez, who died in the Dominican roof collapse

Fans and countrymen on Thursday shared their remembrances of Dominican Republic music icon Rubby Pérez, who was among the scores of people killed this week after the roof at the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed. He was 69.

Know for songs such as “Volveré,” “El Africano” and “Tu Vas a Volar,” Pérez devoted his long career to merengue, the signature musical style of the Dominican Republic. It earned him the title, “the highest voice in merengue,” despite it being his second career choice.

Born on March 8, 1956, in Haina, Pérez aspired to be a baseball player, but those dreams came to an halt when his right leg was injured in a car accident.

Pérez eventually found solace in the guitar and started his musical career in the 1970s. He made his debut as part of Los Pitagoras del Ritmo.

In 1989, Pérez joined Wilfrido Vargas’ orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to launch his solo career in 1987. In 2022, Pérez released his latest album, “Hecho Esta.”

Zulinka, center, daughter of Dominican singer Rubby Perez, who died in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub during his merengue concert, attends his wake at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

His albums have gone gold and platinum in Venezuela and earned him the Orchestra and Merengue of the Year honors at the Soberano Awards, the Dominican music awards.

Following news that Pérez was one of the victims of the collapse, Vargas released a statement saying you can never really say goodbye to an artist like Pérez whose “legacy transcends time and space.”

“His voice, powerful and full of life will continue to resonate in every corner of our Dominican Republic and beyond,” Vargas said. “Rubby was not just a singer; he was a symbol of courage, passion and artistic excellence.”

Days before the collapse, was in New York City. At what would be his last performance in the U.S., he told fans he was exited to be traveling to Santo Domingo.

A public funeral service was held for Pérez on Thursday in Santo Domingo’s National Theater.

People attend a Mass, holding an image of Rubby Perez, for the victims of the Jet Set club roof collapse, at St. Elizabeth’s Church, Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

“He was a beloved man,” Martitza Martinez, 75, said in Spanish of Pérez, adding that she had attended three of his parties in the Dominican Republic, in part because her cousin was his car mechanic. “Performing live, he was excellent.”

Martinez joined other mourners Thursday outside the United Palace theatre where Pérez had once performed in Washington Heights, the center of the Dominican diaspora in New York City. Across from the palace, a poster of Pérez was taped to a tree, framed between Dominican flags above and candles below that bore the images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.