El Demonio’s having an amazing year.
The musician, who moved to Durango 15 years ago from Southern California, was nominated for an Artist of the Year award in the 11th annual Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. The JMAs is the “premier music event within the independent music industry recognizing and celebrating excellence globally. The JMAs honor exceptional talent, hard work, growth, and outstanding bodies of work, and contributions to those who inspire us, encourage us, and shape the culture of the global independent music industry,” according to its website.
And for El Demonio – whose real name is Reuben Roman and was given the nickname “El Demonio” by his grandfather when he was little – the nomination caps off a career that has included a string of successful singles; the album, “Diamond on My Heart,” which hit No. 1 on the iTunes Blues Chart on Jan. 19, 2024; a film (“The Greenhorn Controversy”); the “El Demonio Penance” comic book series; and collaborations with some of music’s heavy hitters, including Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
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For more information about El Demonio, visit www.therealeldemonio.com.
He started out in Southern California as a member of one of the original 1%er outlaw motorcycle clubs, but, he said, when the time commitment of the lifestyle became too much, he chose his family and his first love: music.
“I still love my motorcycle, but it took up a lot of time, and I knew that I had to pick one,” El Demonio said.
After turning to music full-time, he began his career as a rapper, adopting his nickname as his stage name.
“I was in a rock band,” he said. “Back in the olden days, record companies would give you money to do a demo specifically for them. And when I went into the studio, we were recording, and my drummer started playing a really funky beat. Jokingly, I started rapping, and I didn’t know that the engineer was recording it.”
After the session, El Demonio received a call from a manager who had heard the tape and assumed he was a rapper. And from that point on, his career began to take off, and he found himself touring the world. Ultimately, though, El Demonio needed a break from that lifestyle, and so he went on hiatus, which lasted 15 years.
It was in 2024 when his break from music came to an end – and he found himself living through a health scare that would change his life.
“In January 2024, I was still playing music in my room, but I was playing what I really like, kind of like country blues, and I just got an itching to do a record, nothing big – just wanted to do a record,” El Demonio said.
He called his own management, with whom he’d stayed in contact over the years. A deal with The Orchard, a division of Sony Music, was signed, and the album, “Diamond on My Heart,” was released and topped the iTunes Blues Chart on Jan. 19, 2024.
“We put the record out. I didn’t anticipate anything, it was just to get it out of my system,” El Demonio said. “I was 15 years removed from my fan base, doing a whole different genre, so I didn’t expect anything. It was mostly for friends and family. ... So I got asked to do a tour, to go promote this record. It was basically a tribute to the motorcycle life that I was living when I moved out here. I’ve always ridden motorcycles, and I got involved in a motorcycle club, the major clubs, and I wrote about that, and that’s what it was.”
The hits kept coming until a hit came he wasn’t expecting Nov. 14, 2024.
It all started with a pain in El Demonio’s jaw.
The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital, having suffered a heart attack doctors call a “widowmaker.”
“When I had my heart attack, I didn’t have any of the traditional symptoms that you see on TV – your arm hurt or you can’t breathe. What happened was my jaw hurt. My jaw was really sore and I thought that was odd. I didn’t think heart attack, but it got really, really bad. So my wife was like, ‘Let’s go to hospital, something’s wrong. Let’s go figure this out,’” he said. “As soon as I got there, when I told them my jaw (hurt), it was like a NASCAR team. They start all running around and I’m like, ‘Holy heck, what’s going on here?’ And they explained to me that I had a massive heart attack, and a cardiologist was really surprised I didn’t die. He called it a widowmaker. My cardiologist told me that 86% of the people with this heart attack don’t make it.”
After his release from the hospital, El Demonio said he hit the ground running with his rehabilitation, and three months into a six-month rehab, he was back, releasing the singles “Love & Hate” in February of this year, and “The Road,” featuring Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Twista. Both singles charted at No. 1 Country single on Amazon Music.
“My style is a little weird: It’s kind of a blend of country music with hip-hop beats,” he said, calling it Urban Outlaw Country.
He left The Orchard, signed a new deal and re-released “Diamond on My Heart” – and invited Snoop Dogg to be on it. That effort resulted in No. 1 spot on both Amazon Music’s Country single charts. His latest release, “Highway Man,” featuring Lil Wayne, dropped Oct. 21, according to a news release.
And while he’s logging time in the studio, El Demonio has also been able to put his heart attack behind him.
“I’ve fully recovered. And I live completely opposite of what I used to live – not that I was ever a drinker or a smoker, my vices were like, I make good money and I like to eat really good food,” he said. “When I was going through my rehab, I changed my life, and it’s just a complete change: I work out, I eat regularly, healthy, and I’m just enjoying life.”
He’s also finishing up work on a new single and is getting ready to head out on tour at the beginning of the new year. He said coming out the other side of a major heart attack has given him new perspective on life.
“It’s really weird because this is one of the major life changes. Everything matters, everything,” he said. “When I talk to my brother, my sisters, my mom and dad, at the end of conversation, I let them know exactly how I feel: ‘Hey, I love you guys.’ ... Life really is precious, and it took me almost dying to really appreciate it.”
katie@durangoherald.com
