Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez (; born April 24, 1949 in

Altamira Altamira may refer to: People *Altamira (surname) Places * Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...

, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) is a band leader, trumpeter, vocalist, arranger, composer and producer who was instrumental in making the merengue style a worldwide phenomenon. He was surrounded by musical influences; namely, his father Ramón, an

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and guitarist, and his mother Bienvenida, a flute player and guitarist. Vargas began his musical studies early, attending the Municipal Academy of Music beginning at age 10. He has been a trumpeter and a vocalist, but has also arranged, composed, and led his band, and is also a producer.

Career

1970s

He began his career with the band Wilfrido Vargas y sus Beduinos by recording his first album in 1972. Alongside many Latin music super stars, he performed during the 1979 music festival

Havana Jam Havana Jam was a three-day music festival that took place at the Karl Marx Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, on 2–4 March 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall, the president of Columbia Records, Jerry Masucci, the president of Fania Records, and ...

1980s

During the 1980s he had international commercial success with songs such as , , , and . Wilfrido appeared in the 1989 film .

1990s

He was nominated in 1991 for the

33rd Grammy Awards The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 20, 1991. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Quincy Jones was the night's biggest winner winning a total of six awards including Album of the Year. Performers ...

in the Best Tropical Latin Performance for his album ''Animation''. He won a (Silver Seagull) in the 1992

Viña del Mar International Song Festival , image = , caption =Overture to the closing night of LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival (2010) , location =Viña del Mar, Chile , years_active =1960-present , founders = , dates =3rd week of February , ...

. In 1993, he was decorated by the Dominican president

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer. He was President of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 196 ...

with the

Order of Christopher Columbus The Order of Christopher Columbus ( es, Orden Heráldica de Cristóbal Colón) is an order of the Dominican Republic. It was established on 21 July 1937. The Head of State confers the order, by advice of the council of the order, both to civilian ...

in the Knight grade, alongside fellow Dominican musicians Jorge Taveras, Manuel Tejada and Julio Gautreaux for their contribution to the development and dissemination of the national music. The song from his 1983 album was the basis for the 1991 hit single, by Cuban-American rapper

DJ Laz Lazaro Mendez, better known by his stage name DJ Laz (born December 2, 1971 in Hollywood, Florida, United States) is a Cuban-American rapper and DJ from Miami, Florida. He hosted his weekday radio show in Miami on WPOW 96.5 FM, branded "Power 96 ...

. For the

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

Bellísima ''Bellisima'' is a Venezuelan telenovela written by Alicia Barrios and broadcast on Venevisión in 1991 with a story set in the world of fashion. Emma Rabbe and Víctor Cámara starred as the main protagonists. The series lasted 187 episodes, and ...

, Wilfrido performed the theme song, and also performed the song for the 1997 film '' Out to Sea''.

2000s

In 2003 he acted in the drama film. Vargas participated in 2007 at the Colombian version of

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

, as the groups mentor. Today Vargas is one of the best-known artists in Latin America with hit songs such as (written by Calixto Ochoa), , , , and . As of 2010, he lives in Colombia.

Discography

Grammy Nomination

* Best Tropical Latin Performance – ''Animation'' (1990)

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Wilfrido 20th-century Dominican Republic male singers Dominican Republic songwriters Male songwriters Dominican Republic composers Merengue musicians Latin music record producers Latin music songwriters Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Knights of the Order of Christopher Columbus 1949 births Living people 21st-century Dominican Republic male singers