Fifteen years ago, before becoming a multi-platinum selling pop star, Geoffrey Royce Rojas, known professionally as Prince Royce, launched his career with a unique cover. Reflecting his Dominican roots, the then 20-year-old New Yorker reimagined Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” with a bachata arrangement sung in Spanglish. Now, at 36, Prince Royce is returning to the formula that made him famous with his eighth album Eterno. The 13-track LP includes his bachata versions of classics by the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, the Backstreet Boys, and more.
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“I want to take people to those moments from back in the day when music was really just music and people were having fun,” he tells SPIN. “I also want them to hear my story, what I’ve taken from songs, and what vibe I would sing them in. To be able to do that and keep some of this music alive while also blending the culture behind these songs with my Latin culture is the ultimate goal.”
With “Stand By Me,” Prince Royce solidified his multicultural sound, blending the tropical genre of bachata from the Dominican Republic with elements of the pop, R&B, and hip-hop music that he grew up on. In 2017, Colombian superstar Shakira tapped him for her bachata track, “Deja Vu.” While known for bringing that genre to the forefront, Prince Royce has also explored sounds like Latin trap with Bad Bunny and Becky G, reggaeton with Maluma, EDM with Selena Gomez, and even Mexican corridos with Gabito Ballesteros.
As he continues to make his way towards global icon status, Prince Royce is revisiting the songbook of the legends that came before him. Eterno, which translates to “Eternal” in English, includes covers of “How Deep is Your Love” by the Bee Gees, “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley. Prince Royce also pushes bachata to new places with his colorful remakes of classics like “Yesterday” by the Beatles, “Killing Me Softly” by Roberta Flack, and the rock-infused “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac.
Just like 15 years ago, Prince Royce has a knack for bridging cultures, genres, and generations in his music.
It’s been 15 years since you released your cover of “Stand By Me.” What would you say is your secret to career longevity?
I really just look at this as a job. I think at the beginning a young artist sees this as party or rockstar vibes and there are opportunities for that. [Laughs.] Once I started seeing this as a very serious job, I saw that things were more grounded or that things would last. In this job, you’re always on. You’re always working. Even when you’re going to the beach and you get asked for a photo, or there’s paparazzi or cameras, you’re working. There’s going to be fun things in between, but if I got to wake up at 4:00 or 6:00 in the morning, I got to do it. I’ve matured so much as a person, as an artist, as a songwriter—and I’m still always learning.
You’re known for your many bachata hits. What has it meant for you to have helped push that genre into the mainstream?
It’s a blessing. It feels good to see that I really made a mark with my name and that I’ve made an impact in a true way for the genre and the Dominican Republic. They named a street after me in New York. It really does feel like I’ve had a big impact. I’m just honored and grateful to my fans and the people that have given me the opportunity to make that kind of impact.
Throughout your career you’ve also worked with artists from other genres like Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Selena Gomez, Becky G, and Maluma. What have you taken away from those collaborations?
It’s been great and I also learn from each one of them, whether it’s how they write, how they sing, or just the recording process. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to unite fan bases and cultures. We’re all different but with music, we can become one. Even though we’re all Latino or Hispanic, we’re still from different countries. We eat different foods. We speak in different slang. It’s all Spanish, but we’re still from different places. I love collaborating and doing fusions. I like to educate myself on other people’s cultures too. When I get together with artists, it’s a collaboration between cultures and fan bases.
How do you feel about being seen as a sex symbol?
I was always a shy dude growing up and as I started singing, I started working on my “sex symbol” stuff more. [Laughs.] I was always very skinny, so I went to the gym. It’s cool to see that people show you love. I also just like having fun with it. I don’t think I’m “the man” or anything, but at the shows it’s fun to see the reaction when I take off my shirt and throw it. It’s all entertainment. I’m all about entertaining and having people have a good time, so whatever opportunity I see to give people what they want to see and what they want to hear, I’ll do it. If you come to my meet and greets, I’ll hug everyone the same way and I’ll let everyone freak out the same way. I’ll show love to everyone in the same way. At the end of the day, we’re all humans. I definitely know that many of my fans belong to the LGBTQ+ community and I’m here to sing to everyone. It’s love is love type of vibes.
Now let’s get into the stories behind some of the songs on Eterno. What is the story behind your cover of the Beatles’ “Yesterday”?
I wanted to record it in 2009. It’s a song that I feel is so simple yet so deep. It’s a song I wanted to record then and I always told myself if I ever do a project or album with covers, I was going to include “Yesterday.” That cover is a little more bolero because the original song was kind of acoustic, so I wanted to keep that vibe. That’s probably the only one on the album with acoustic and raw vibes.
“How Deep is Your Love” by the Bee Gees?
It’s always been one of my mom’s favorites. She said when she hears that song, it reminds of when she first came to America and when she was working at a factory. That song and those types of songs would play at the factory and the mall when she would go shopping. It’s a very unique and iconic song too, so I wanted to have it in for sure. That was one of the most different because in bachata, you don’t really hear those types of background vocals or chord changes. There’s low notes. It was cool to take bachata out of its comfort zone and do a song like this.
Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”?
I wanted a little rock vibe. I had first heard this song playing Guitar Hero back in the day on Xbox. I had Guitar Hero on Xbox and “Go Your Own Way” was one of my favorite records to play. I remember I had my skateboard phase in New York and I would go skateboarding in Queens and I’d play this song. I’m not singing in the normal sweet voice I usually sing in, so it was a very different song for me to do. We do like a bachata and electric guitar fusion, so I think it’s a fun record. It’ll be fun to sing live and close the show with.
As someone that grew up to see when the Backstreet Boys were on top of the world, what was the experience like to cover “I Want it That Way”?
Every song on the album is much older than this one. That was the one I enjoyed recording the most. It’s one of my favorites because I could identify with that one most. I recorded so many background vocals. Obviously, I’m one artist and there were five artists on the original track, so I had to dissect each harmony and try to replicate every background vocal that they did. I’m really proud of that one.
How did you turn Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” into a bachata song?
That was probably the hardest one to record actually. If you listen to the original Elvis Presley song, it’s just so slow. What I would usually do is I would take the original vocal and put it on a bachata track on it and see how it sounded. With this one, the original vocal wouldn’t work because it was just so slow. The original chorus didn’t fit too well in bachata, so I made a new verse that kind of gave it that bachata vibe. That one was a little complicated to do, but I thought it was such an iconic song. It’s a song that plays in romantic movie scenes or plays at weddings, so I thought it would be cool if this could be a wedding song in Spanish. I tried my best to try to make it into a bachata song.
What do you want to accomplish next with your career?
We’re definitely going to go on tour either at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I like that this album bought me some more time to continue working on original music because I always take way too long doing original music. I hope to continue to keep learning and growing. I like to push myself and to keep doing new things. I hope to continue to reach other countries that perhaps don’t know about my music and also to keep revisiting the places that have shown me love. I’m excited to keep working and to keep touching hearts around the world.
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