Carlos Gardel

Although his place and date of birth are the subject of controversy, Gardel is the singer that made tango famous in Europe and in the United States. According to the majority of his biographers he was born in Toulouse, France in 1890. Others, however, claim that he was born in Tacuarembó, Uruguay, and was the son of young woman and a local political caudillo (strongman) who later turned him over to Berthe Gardés who raised him as her own son.

Little is known of the childhood and adolescence of this neighborhood kid, but he later started circulating through the cafes and tango bars of Buenos Aires where he sang to earn his keep.

His popularity began in 1917. From then on his voice and charisma quickly led him to stardom. Gardel's appearances on the radio and his recordings and tours through neighboring countries increased his fame, as did the excellent reception he received in France in 1928 where tango had become a craze.

Strangely enough, from then on he was more famous abroad than in Buenos Aires. He acted in various films and composed and sang many of the most famous tangos: Mi Buenos Aires Querido, Por una Cabeza, Volver and Cuesta Abajo, among others. He died in 1935 in an airplane accident in Medellin, Colombia.