Son by Four is a salsa music group from Puerto Rico, well-known for their English U.S. pop hit "Purest of Pain (A Puro Dolor)". The group is signed to Sony Music Entertainment.Son By Four was created by panamanian producer/songwriter Omar Alfanno and integrated by Angel López, Pedro Quiles, and brothers Javier Montes and George Montes.
In 1998, the group released two songs written by Alfanno, No Hay Razon and Nada. The songs were minor hits on the Billboard Latin Tracks chart, and helped Son By Four sign a recording contract with Sony Records.
The same year, they had their first album Preparense and started touring to promote the album. In early 2000, they released an eponymous album featuring single A Puro Dolor. This song, written by Omar Alfanno and originally recorded in Spanish, proved to be a success.
Its ballad version was featured in the Spanish soap opera La Calle de las Novias, and the single spent a year on the Billboard's Latin singles chart and set a record for staying at number one for 20 weeks.
It also got a place in the Billboard's tropical music charts for 21 weeks. The English version of the song ("Purest of Pain") placed at number 26 on Billboard's pop music charts. The album sold 315,000 units in the United States, and more than 1 million copies worldwide.
A Puro Dolor subsequently helped Son by Four earn gold sales status, as well as receiving four prizes at Billboard Music Awards (December 2000) and seven prizes the Billboard Latin Music Awards (April 2001), including Hot Latin Track Artist of the Year.
The Spanish version of the song appeared at No. 65 in Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, which was conceived as a rare feat for a Spanish single. The group soon recorded a new English-language version, named The Purest of Pain, and this version got into the top 30, peaking at No.
26. Son By Four continued to release two albums Salsa Hits in 2001 and Renace in 2004, but these were less successful than their second album.From 2007, the band conformed only by Pedro Quiles and the brothers Javier and George Montes has changed their music style from Latin pop, Salsa and Ballad, to Christian music and are singing to Jesus with the albums Aquí está el Cordero (The Lamb it's here, 2007) and ABBANUESTRO (OURABBA, 2009).
