Miguel Angel Rasalps

Singer and composer, founder of Los Van Van.

Lele, the voice that made Los Van Van popular during the early years of the seventies, was born in Havana,  in the Cerro neighborhood, next to Estadio Latinoamericano, from a family of African roots, Yoruba Carabalí; his mother Flora was an excellent singer at family celebrations, as were his aunts and uncles. From all of them, according to the artist in various interviews, he acquired his love of music and his natural and indigenous sense of pitch. 

He began his professional career in January 1962, with the rock group Los Fantásticos, participated in the creation of the quartet Los Primos in 1965 and in 1968 he joined Elio Revé's orchestra, of which Juan Formell was bassist and composer. According to his account, professional differences with Revé led him to leave the group in early 1969. 

"Formell decided to retire from the orchestra and I supported him in his decision; then most of the orchestra members joined us, I'm referring to the strings, piano and conga, and we were authorized to create a new orchestra with that foundation," he said in statements in 2010. 

Los Van Van's debut took place in December of that same year, with songs such as "La compota de palo", "Yuya Martínez", "El penoso", "Laura Chancleta", "La candela" and "Marilú", which showcased a new musical style called Songo. 

With Los Van Van, Lele sang in Japan, France, the Soviet Union and Spain. According to his account, he left the group in the early seventies to move to Las Villas due to the birth of his son. His replacement was first assumed by Armando Cuervo and then by Pedro Calvo. 

Lele later joined Los Reyes 73, which popularized songs of his own authorship such as "Sin libertad no hay arreglo", "Me cansé de hablar", "Grandes amigos", "Ay qué linda es tu cintura, mulata", "Picolino caminante", "Pequeño desengaño" and "Necesito alguien como tú", among others. After seven years of popularity, in 1980 many of the members 
of Los Reyes 73 left Cuba through the port of Mariel. 

"I chose, for family reasons, to remain in the country," said Lele. "Lacking an orchestra, Juan Formell invited me to 
rejoin Van Van and we immediately began recording the sixth volume of Van Van, where we left songo a bit behind and entered into fusion", he added. His new stage with Los Van Van ended in 1981, when he left the orchestra due to health problems. 

Lele was later a soloist and director of the group Jibacoa. In 1987 he received the Medal for National Culture. Subsequently he retired with approximately eight dollars monthly that did not allow him to sustain his basic needs for shelter and food, which forced him to work in the Bernardino García field contingent for three and a half years," he recounted about that period. 

In 1998 he left the island and settled in Chile, where he recorded the CD Lele en Chile and worked with a quintet of traditional Cuban music. 

In recent years he returned temporarily to Cuba and performed on state television. 

Currently his son Abdel, also known as Lele, is a singer for Los Van Van. 

He passed away at the age of 71