Mario Gareña, stage name of Jesús Arturo García Peña (25 September 1932 – 25 August 2021) was a Colombian singer and composer. He was one of the most prolific singers of

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

music and was known for the song ''Yo me llamo cumbia''.

Biography

Gareña was born on 25 September 1932 in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

. He started his career in 1951 and joined an orchestra in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

. He then joined the Orquestra Sonolux in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

. During the 1960s, he moved to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

and started a career as a singer, performing in nightclubs and appearing on television. He also appeared in the films ''Mares de pasión'' and ''Cumbia''. In 1966, Gareña was voted most popular singer in Colombia by Caracol Radio. In 1969, he recorded his most famous song, ''Yo me llamo cumbia'', which was covered by Leonor Gonzalez Mina. In 1970, he represented Colombia at the Festival Latinoamericano de la Canción de Nueva York with the song ''Te dejo la ciudad sin mí'', performed by

Los Ángeles Negros Los Ángeles Negros () are a Chilean pop ballad band formed in San Carlos de Chile in 1968. The band's best-known line-up consisted of singer Germaín de la Fuente, guitarist Mario Gutiérrez, keyboardist Jorge González, bassist Miguel Ánge ...

. In 1978, he recorded another highly successful song, ''Raza'', which denounced racism towards

Afro-Colombians Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest  Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government estimates being ...

. It reached great fame after a cover by Billo's Caracas Boys. In the 1980s, Gareña appeared on television multiple times as a singer, but also as an actor in the telenovela ''Oro''. His success led him to run in the 1990 Colombian presidential election. However, he only earned 2,411 votes, and left the music scene afterwards. Mario Gareña died in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

on 25 August 2021 at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garena, Mario 1932 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Colombian male singers Cumbia musicians Musicians from Barranquilla