Johnny O.

Born in New York City on August 27, 1971, Juan Antonio Ortiz aka Johnny O. is an American freestyle singer, of Cuban descent through a father he never knew, and Puerto Rican through his mother. He grew up in Brooklyn and broke through as Johnny O. in the late 1980s. After his first hit, "Fantasy Girl" in 1988, he soon returned to the dance music charts with "Memories" (1989), taken from his debut album Johnny O. The following year, he enjoyed his best commercial performance with the hit "Dream Boy / Dream Girl" (No. 53 on the Billboard Singles chart in 1990), taken from Like a Stranger. In 1993, "Runaway Love", from the album Call It Watcha Like, was his last charted track, at No. 87 on the Billboard charts (No. 4 on the dance charts). While updated versions of "Fantasy Girl" were released in 1997 and 1998, the singer didn't make a comeback until 2002 with the album The Sounds of My Heart, followed in 2008 by Peace on Earth 2012 and in 2011 by Remedy (Grace of God). Several compilations of his hits have been released, including Famous Last Words: The Very Best of Johnny O in 2003.

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