Fernando Álvarez

Cuban singer. His voice popularized and disseminated many of the best compositions of popular music and his artistic career reflects an entire period in the history of Cuban songs.

He was born in Santiago de Cuba, Oriente.

He began his artistic career with the ensemble Hermanos Giro; later he moved to the orchestra Armonía Tropical and, subsequently, to that of Pancho Portuondo y su Ritmo Oriental. He then joined that of Mariano Mercerón y sus Muchachos Pimienta, with which Pacho Alonso and Alfonso Eliseo also sang; with this group he traveled to Haiti.

In 1953 Benny Moré founded his Banda Gigante and he began singing with this orchestra; on August 4, 1955 they traveled to Medellín, Colombia. In 1956, replacing Roberto Faz, he began working with the Conjunto Casino, with which he performed in Panama, a country where he achieved his first major success abroad.

He recorded boleros by José Antonio Méndez, Rolando Rabí, Piloto y Vera, Ernesto Duarte, Isolina Carrillo, Frank Domínguez, Marta Valdés. Subsequently, he dedicated himself to singing as a soloist, and as such he recorded with the orchestras of Benny Moré, Bebo Valdés, Ernesto Duarte and la Aragón. He made of the song Dos Gardenias an interpretation that will be remembered forever in his voice.

He participated in his later years in the Boleros de Oro festivals. He is one of the singers who incorporated filin songs into his repertoire. In 2001 he recorded the bolero album Sé Feliz, with lyrics by Descemer Bueno, which was released to the public in 2008 under the EGREM label.

His career as a singer was notable for its technical, artistic and interpretive quality, for his exclusive repertoire. In Cuba and in Latin America, his voice popularized and disseminated many of the best compositions of popular music and his artistic career reflects an entire period in the history of Cuban songs.