“I am a very sentimental person and I loved when they introduced me to the format and the idea of being part of the program. It touched my heart, it made me very special”, the Puerto Rican singer replies Rene Farrait when asked what convinced him to come to Lima and join the coaching group at ‘the senior voice‘.
“It has been a beautiful experience, above all, because it is giving the opportunity to people that we no longer have – and I include myself – a lot of time (laughs). That is what life is about, helping others,” he says.
The remembered former member of Slight confess that When he arrived in our country, just a few days ago, he felt a little strange, but his colleagues on the program took care of making him feel at home. “I was very nervous the first few days, I didn’t know anyone, I barely spoke, but Dani, Eva and Raúl behaved spectacularly with me, they are so affectionate, we had such a good time… I think we have very nice chemistry between the four of us.”
Regarding his work as a judge, he acknowledges that it is difficult for him to have to decide who stays and who goes. “It is very very difficult, because they are older adults, you get to know them, you form a team with them, you know the life story of each one and you get emotionally involved with them.”
“The damage is done”
At 54 years old, René is a single man. Separated for several years, he lives alone in his house in Miami. “My daughters are grown up now,” he says.
“Before arriving in Peru, I was planning my solo tour, preparing the arrangements, choosing the songs, putting on the show, so I hope to start my concerts here in Peru”.
Since his departure from the Menudo group in 1982, much water has flowed under the river in René’s life. From 1983 to 1986 he made two solo albums; In 1987, together with other former members of Menudo, he joined Proyecto M, with whom he recorded four albums, and in 1998, together with Johny, Miguel, Charly, Ricky and Ray, the group’s most emblematic formation, they began the famous tour ‘El Reencuentro’ , which toured several Latin American countries.
Menudo marked his life for better and for worse. In 2014 he joined the accusations of sexual abuse against the former manager of the group Edgardo Díaz, initiated by another former member, Ray Roselló. In October 2020, he railed against the Amazon documentary Get on my motorcycle, about Menudo’s life, according to the version of the questioned Edgardo Díaz. So much so that he announced the making of his own documentary. “It really makes me want to throw up… This is a comedy far from reality. The real story is coming. And it’s not just more good than bad. Cynical, sick, abusive, son of a bitch … ”, he wrote then on his networks.
According to René himself, when he arrived in Peru, his colleagues from La voz senior took care of making him feel at home. Photo: diffusion
–Is your documentary project going forward?
-It is quite complicated because it is a delicate issue that has to be dealt with with tweezers and legally you have to prepare. It’s not sitting there and starting to talk like crazy, I can’t do that. I have to take good care of myself and, therefore, it is being done very calmly. I have not ruled it out, it is one of my most important projects.
-I guess you’ll discuss it with your former colleagues from Menudo.
-Not necessarily because the documentary speaks from when I was a child until today’s sun. Obviously, it includes Menudo, but the documentary is not exclusively about that, it is about my life.
–In any case, how do you handle this sensitive issue of abuse that you denounced? Have you gotten over it?
-I don’t live with that in my mind every day, obviously, but the damage has already been done.
