Juan Carlos Jiménez Rufino (born 11 January 1951), known as ''La Mona Jiménez'', is a

cuarteto Cuarteto ( es, quartet), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in Italian and Spanish dance ensembles. The name was coined because the early dance-hall numbers were i ...

singer and songwriter, heralded as one of the most prominent performers of the genre.

Early life

Juan Carlos Jiménez Rufino was born on 11 January 1951 in Córdoba, Argentina. He is of

Afro-Argentine Afro-Argentines are people in Argentina of primarily Sub-Saharan African descent. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the transatlantic slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination in the reg ...

descent. He earned the nickname ''La Mona'' ("the she-monkey") from his parents, who noted his resemblance to

Cheeta Cheeta (sometimes billed as Cheetah, Cheta, and Chita) is a chimpanzee character that appeared in numerous Hollywood Tarzan films of the 1930s–1960s, as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Ta ...

the Chimpanzee from the ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'' TV series.

Musical career

He started singing with Cuarteto Berna when he was 15 years old after winning a contest among 40 other singers. With this group he recorded five albums. His first hit was ''La flaca Marta'' ("Skinny Marta") from the album ''Para toda América'' ("For All America"), released in 1984. His success allowed him to buy three brand-new cars and a house in the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

of Cerro de Las Rosas, and to pay off a mortgage. In 40 years of musical career Jiménez has recorded more than 85 CDs and sold more than 36 million copies all over Argentina. His 62nd CD, titled ''Beso a beso con La Mona'' ("From kiss to kiss with La Mona") sold more than one hundred thousand copies just in Córdoba. He received the Platinum

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The pur ...

for best

Cuarteto Cuarteto ( es, quartet), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in Italian and Spanish dance ensembles. The name was coined because the early dance-hall numbers were i ...

soloist/band of the 1985–1995 decade in 1995 and of the 1995–2005 decade in 2005. He has two daughters, Lorena and Natalia, and a son, Carli, who is also a cuarteto musician.

References

External links

Tunga Tunga
— Cuarteto Website. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, La Mona 1951 births Living people Afro-Argentine musicians Musicians from Córdoba, Argentina Argentine musicians Cuarteto musicians