Pavel Núñez — Pavel Elías Núñez Ramírez, born 2 March 1979 in Santo Domingo — is a Dominican singer-songwriter whose songs and live shows have made him one of the most decorated solo artists of his generation, with eleven Casandra and Soberano awards, an Emmy and a Latin Grammy nomination behind him.

Bands before a name of his own

He started in 1995 with Homero Guerrero in the band Código Genético, steeped in Cuban trova and inflected with blues, funk and folk; a year later the two started over as Los Fulanos, aiming for something more their own. A 1997 tour of local bars sent him to New York to sharpen his musicianship, and on his return he formed El Corredor de la 27 — the same name he would put on an album more than twenty years later. That year, an invitation from José Antonio Rodríguez and Víctor Víctor to open for them earned him the nickname «El Buen Hijo de la Zona Colonial».

Going solo

Signed exclusively to RCC Records in 2001, he released his debut, «Paso a Paso», the following year, and followed it with «De Vuelta a Casa» (2003) and «Atlantis» (2005) — both of which paired him in duet with the Puerto Rican singer Danny Rivera, who later, in 2016, chose Núñez to produce one of his own albums.

A discography built one record at a time

Rather than one breakthrough hit, Núñez built a catalogue: «Antología de un principiante» (2006), «El tiempo del viento» (2010), the two-part «Big Band Núñez» (2012–13), «Cantor urbano», a full tribute to Luis "Terror" Días (2013), «De mis insomnios» (2015), «Sentimientos» (2018) and «Oratoria y otras historias», recorded with El Corredor de la 27 (2018). In 2019 he made his merengue debut on «Yo te quiero querer», a duet with Milly Quezada.

Awards

His live TV special «Big Band Núñez» won an Emmy in 2013 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Suncoast chapter, and that same November he took two Premios La Silla from ADOCINE — Best Original Song for a Film and Best Musicalization, the latter shared with the sound engineer Arturo Piña — for his film work. He has eleven Casandra and Soberano awards to his name, among them Revelación del Año, Solista del Año, Concierto del Año, Mejor Cantante Masculino (2014) and Álbum del Año for «De mis insomnios» (2016), plus a 2010 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Singer-Songwriter Album.

Legacy

More than a quarter-century after two friends built a band around Cuban trova and whatever else was on the radio, Núñez marked his 26th year in music in 2026 with a stage musical and another Soberano, for Best Male Solo Artist — a career made, record by record, on the strength of the songs themselves.