MIAMI (WSVN) - Frank Amadeo, president of Estefan Enterprises and South Florida’s entertainment industry giant who helped build the careers of Latin music icons such as Gloria Estefan and Shakira, has died Saturday. He was 57.
According to a report from The Miami Herald, Amadeo passed away in his Brickell home after suffering a heart attack.
Amadeo began his illustrious career in the entertainment industry as a program director at Y-100 in the early 1980s, when he broke the Miami Sound Machine, a band Gloria and Emilio Estefan were part of at the time, into the English-language market with their 1984 single “Dr. Beat.”
In 1992, the Estefans brought Amadeo on board the Estefan Enterprises as media relations director. For nearly 30 years, he worked closely with the power couple and helped build the careers of the greatest Latinx musicians known to Miami and the world, including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Secada, and most recently Estefans’ daughter Emily.
In addition to overseeing the growth of Estefan Enterprises’ entertainment production divisions, he also oversaw the company’s hotels and restaurants.
Amadeo is survived by his partner Ernesto and his two sisters.
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