Latin singer Prince Royce says he’s looking forward to headlining the 2019 Major League Soccer All-Star Concert because he loves singing live. But another motive? To gain some new fans.
The Dominican singer will perform at the free event on July 27 in Orlando, Florida, at Wall Street Plaza, where Grammy-nominated DJ-producer A-Trak will kick off the concert.
“I think for me it’s a great way to continue to gain a bigger audience. It’s a whole different type of crowd,” said Royce, who said he’s become a bigger soccer fan in the last two years. “I know that there’s going to be some people that might just be finding out about my music that day … (but) I hope that they have a great experience.”
The concert will kick off five days of soccer festivities, with the MLS All-Star Game capping the events on July 31 at Exploria Stadium.
Royce said though he enjoys soccer, he didn’t play the sport growing up: “In New York, as a Dominican, the only two sports you really hear about is baseball and basketball. I grew up in the projects of New York, which we had a basketball court in the back. And then growing up I saw a lot of baseball, you know, there are so many Dominican baseball players.”
Royce released his self-titled debut album in 2010, topped the Latin charts with songs like “Corazon Sin Cara,” ”Las Cosas Pequenas” and “Darte un Beso,” and earned 13 Latin Grammy nominations.
Last week he released the song “Curame” featuring Manuel Turizo, and said he’s finishing up a new album, “Alter Ego.”
“I’m doing a very different approach with this album. It’s really a concept album,” Royce said, adding that he’s “not 100 percent sure when it’s going to come out.”
“It’s a very ambitious album,” he added. “It’s so many different rhythms, so many different vibes.”
Royce turned 30 last month and went skydiving to celebrate. He married “Shadowhunters” actress Emeraude Toubia last year. He said as he reflects on his career so far, he’s proud of what he’s achieved.
“I feel very blessed that I’m able to take care of my family and live off of this dream,” he said. “I’m at a place where I feel really good about myself. I’m just motivated to do more and to keep growing.”
Of married life, he said: “Nothing’s changed. All is well. Business as usual.”
“I’m happy that not much has changed,” he added. “That’s really the fear that you go through before marriage and when you think about marriage. You hear these stories of stuff going downhill or things changing, so I’m really happy that things have kept almost pretty much the same.”