ASHLAND, Ky. (WOWK) — Gerardo Mejia was a Latin pop star in the early 1990s, rising to fame after creating the hit song “Rico Suave.”

Today, instead of spending his days performing, his time is dedicated to his family and a church he and his wife built in Ashland, Kentucky.

Mejia’s rise to stardom and path to Christianity started in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

“I was a kid that, you know, walked from house to house without having a problem in the world. 
I just loved my upbringing. In the year 1976, we made our move from Guayaquil, Ecuador, to Los Angeles, California. I was just a young kid trying to make it and trying to stand out,” Mejia says, recalling his childhood.

Once in the United States, he became an award-winning break dancer, an actor, then finally, a music sensation.

“I got myself into music and I had a big hit song called Rico Suave,” Mejia says.

Nearly a year after reaching this celebrity status, Mejia met his wife, Miss West Virginia Kathy (Eicher) Mejia.

“In 1992, I guess at the demise of my celebrity. I met, in Mexico, my wife now, Kathy Mejia. At the beginning, it was just about her outer beauty, and in time, you know, I just knew she was a beautiful soul and she was meant to be for me,” Gerardo says.

However, starting a family and keeping up with the “Rico Suave” persona was hard to balance.

“I don’t even think there was a balance. It was just at that moment. I was trying to stay ‘Rico Suave.’ So for a long time it was tough in the family,” Gerardo says.

This led to one of the toughest moments in Gerardo’s life, separating from his wife.

Kathy left Los Angeles and moved closer to home, ending up in Ashland, Kentucky. Gerardo eventually followed.

“I came to Ashland, Kentucky, about 10 years ago, trying to save my family. That’s where God came in. That’s where everything changed,” Gerardo says.

Gerardo decided to put “Rico Suave” in the rearview mirror, and he says that was only possible through a higher power.

He reconnected with his wife, and together they worked through their issues.

“Choosing to forgive a lot, every day. I’m so much happier now than I’ve ever been, which is crazy, because when we were young, we thought we were in love, but now we know. Now we really know,” Kathy says.

The former Latin-pop star now focuses on sharing his story of divine intervention, dedicating the rest of his life to Christianity.

He and his wife started the House of Grace Church out of an old warehouse along Greenup Avenue in downtown Ashland.

“This was not just me and her who started this out. I mean, God has brought people into our fold,” Gerardo says, referring to his growing church family.

“He is very welcoming. He’s real. He’s real. He’s got a past, I’ve got a past. We’ve all got that past, and it just doesn’t matter,” House of Grace Associate Pastor Ron Rucker says, referring to his own struggles in life and becoming a Christian alongside Gerardo.

“They have let this Latino dude, they let him come over here and be able to speak in a pulpit. I’m accepted, I get to be myself and not have to change. Don’t wear a mask at this church. Come over here, be yourself. Let’s see what God does,” Gerardo says, referencing his ministry.


From “Rico Suave” to “Pastor G,” Gerardo says he’s content to do God’s work while sharing his Hispanic heritage with eastern Kentucky along the way.

“I can tell you something, I have brought Ecuadorian culture into Ashland, Kentucky. Hopefully, by the time that I’m done here, they all speak Spanish. That’s my goal,” Gerardo says.