Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Christian Daniel was influenced not only by the salsa of the island but also the contemporary pop sounds of Ricky Martin and Shakira. Though his father wanted him to pursue a career in marketing, or even golf, at which he was quite good, Daniel was always drawn to singing, and when he was 16 he, without his father knowing, began to take voice lessons and gather material together for a demo. Upon hearing his music, his father was impressed and convinced that Daniel was making the right decision, and eventually a copy of the demo made its way to Emilio Estefan, who was in the process of starting Bad Boy Latino with Sean “Diddy” Combs. Daniel became the first artist signed to the label, and in 2006 his self-titled debut, a collection of ballads sung in completely in Spanish, came out.