section_path: Early life and career
section_name: Early life and career
paragraph_text: Early life and career
  
  Pérez aspired to be a baseball player in his youth, but then turned to music when a car accident caused permanent damage to his left leg. After studying music at the National Conservatory of Santo Domingo, he became a member of school groups, such as the Choir Youth Guidance Society, The Youth of Bani in 1978, and Los Hijos del Rey. Pérez then entered Wilfrido Vargas 's orchestra in 1980 to 1987, during which time he popularized hits including "El Africano", "Volveré", "Cuando Estés con Él", and "Cobarde Cobarde".
  
  His foray as a solo artist in 1987 brought him hits such as "Buscando Tus Besos", "Enamorado de Ella", and "Tú Vas a Volar", of which the former two were hits in the Billboard charts. His album Rubby Pérez spent two weeks at the Tropical list, peaking at number 15, and his song "Love Her" was number 29 on the Latin charts.
  
  He won Casandra Awards in the categories of "Orchestra of the Year" and "Merengue of the Year". In Venezuela, he won gold and platinum albums in 1988 with his first solo album, Buscando Tus Besos.
  
  On June 15, 2025, Nicolás Maduro granted him Venezuelan nationality posthumously; it was presented to her daughter Zulinka in Caracas, where she was accompanied by Sergio Vargas, Bonny Cepeda and Fernando Villalona.