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I would like to know more about Raul Malo, the lead singer of the Mavericks.
—Lisa L., Oregon

Born to Cuban parents in Miami on Aug. 7, 1965, Malo decided his destiny at age 11 when he saw Elvis Presley in concert. He spent his high school years playing in bands before forming the Mavericks in the late 1980s as the group’s lead singer and songwriter. The title song from their 1992 MCA Records release, From Hell to Paradise, detailed Malo’s family’s dramatic exodus from Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1959. The Grammy-winning band went on hiatus in the late 1990s, and Malo pursued a solo career, producing albums for K.T. Oslin and Rick Trevino. In 2001, he released his first solo album, the Latin-infused Today, which blended many of the Mavericks’ hallmarks. Malo reunited the band in 2003, co-producing a self-titled album. His current project is The Nashville Acoustic Sessions, with a group of renowned musicians, but he will record a second solo album this summer. “I’m not writing anything this time around,” Malo reports. “This will be an album consisting mainly of some of my favorite songs by contemporary writers, and it may feature a special duet.” He lives in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife, Betty, and their three sons.

What is Ross Perot up to these days?
—Ruth C., Wisconsin

The Texas businessman, who became famous as an independent presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996, has stepped out of the political arena. He can be found toiling away at his Plano, Texas, office at Perot Systems Corp., where he serves as chairman of the board. He founded the technology services company in 1988, four years after selling his multibillion dollar business EDS to General Motors Corp. (He started EDS with $1,000, borrowed from his wife, and built it into one of the world’s largest techonology firms.) The industrious Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas, (pop. 34,782) and started working steadily from the time he was just 7 years old. In addition to his business success, the former Navy man worked to help prisoners of war during the Vietnam War, receiving the Medal for Distinguished Service from the Department of Defense for his efforts. He organized a rescue mission to retrieve two of his EDS employees who were taken hostage in Iran in 1979, and helped reform the Texas public school system in the 1980s. He and his wife, Margot, have been married 47 years, and have five children and 15 grandchildren.

What can you tell me about Jeff Bates and his song The Rainbow Man?
—Betsy T., Illinois

Bates grew up as the adopted son of a Columbia, Miss., (pop. 6,603) sharecropper and his wife, and always thought he was “different.” As he says in his song, some people think he looks Mexican, while he always suspected American Indian and African-American lineage. At 30, he tracked down his biological mother and learned that she was Apache, Cherokee and Irish. “I was so torn, scared to death,” he remembers of the meeting. “We talked for hours, and when I would ask her what happened, she would cry and tell me about leaving me with her parents. I suspect it was because she was young and wasn’t mature enough to take care of a child. She totally regretted giving me up and was genuinely glad to see me.” Still, he didn’t continue the relationship because, “I didn’t need a mama. I just wanted to know my background.” Bates has been surprised at how much people have identified with the song. He’s gratified, too. “The point I was trying to make was that we’ve all got a heck of lot of differences, but if we focus on our similarities, we’ll all be a lot happier.”

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