Singer.
Fernando Alvarez was born in Santiago de Cuba on November 4, 1928 and died in Havana in July, 2002. At a very early age, he began his artistic career performing with popular music orchestras in his native city. Likewise, he performed with the groups of Reinaldo Dambay, Pancho Portuondo and Mariano Mercerón.
At the beginning of the 1950s he moved to Havana to join Benny Moré` Banda Gigante, where he remained until the end of 1955 combining singing with the occasional direction of the group. Later on, he formed part of the Conjunto Casino led by Roberto Espí and his popularity grew. He made interpretative versions from different musical pieces, specially the "Humo y Espuma" bolero by Rolando Rabí. Since then, he became soloist and was recruited by the Gema record label with whom he recorded the song entitled "Ven aquí a la realidad" by Ernesto Duarte "this song became a national and international hit and turned him into one of the most acclaimed voic
es in his country. He participated in both radio and television programs, as well as in a number of performances and tours throughout Spanish America and the United States, where he attained a record-breaking and absolute success, specially among the Latin American community.
His career as singer is remarkable for its technical, artistic and interpretative quality, for its exclusive repertoire and the way in which he recreates songs like "Dos gardenias" by Isolina Carrillo; "Vuélvete a mi" by Tania Castellanos; "Nueva vida" by Piloto and Vera; "Si tú quisieras" by Frank Domínguez, besides many other musical compositions written by Ignacio Villa, José Antonio Méndez and Luis Yáñez.
He recorded many long-playing records, namely, "Otra vez con Fernando", "Nueva vida" and "Refúgiate en mi". He also composed pieces like the bolero entitled "Ay tristeza". Fernando Alvarez was a prominent interpreter of songs from the1950s and 1960s written by a whole generation of Cuban composers.
Both in Cuba and in Latin America, his voice popularized and disseminated many of the best compositions of popular music and his artistic career reflects a whole period in the history of Cuban songs.
