Douglaston's Own: Gregory Raposo

Rock singer Gregory Raposo shed his boy band image in the latter years of the past decade and his since acted in several films.

The singer was born in 1985 and grew up in Douglaston. At age six, his mother bought him a guitar and signed him up for vocal lessons.

He won his first contest singing an Elvis Presley song and then took second place on Star Search.

Raposo was cast in a number of commercials during his youth, including ads for Kit Kat and Crest.

In 1996, the young singer auditioned for “Broadway on Broadway,” which featured a variety of stage stars. He was cast as the opener for the show.

At age 12, he was the only child invited to perform at Graceland for the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.

In 1998, he auditioned for a pop group known as Boy Wonder, which never came to fruition, but he became a member of the boy band Dream Street several years later.

Raposo performed his first solo concert, which sold out, in Farmingdale during the fall of 2002.

The following year, his first single, “Take Me Back Home,” played on Radio Disney and eventually won a spot on that station’s playlist.

His self-titled debut album was released in September 2003 and it reached number 40 on the Billboard charts.

That fall, he went on a national tour with fellow Dream Street member Jesse McCartney, who later went on to a successful solo career.

Shortly thereafter, he started his own band, known as Raposo, and released an album titled “Stereopath” in 2008.

His band, which ended up changing their name to Dead Celebrities, was semi-finalists on MTV2’s Battle of the Bands, but then broke up soon afterward.

Between 2002 and 2008, Raposo appeared in several low budget films, including the horror sequel “Return to Sleepaway Camp.”

In May 2012, he released a solo album titled “Loss, Love, Life” and took part in the Rock Camp Tour in the five boroughs, Long Island and New Jersey.