Pérez Prado
Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized the mambo in the 1950s, earning the nickname "The King of the Mambo."
Origins
Active from the 1940s until 1989, he turned his big-band adaptation of the danzón-mambo into a worldwide phenomenon.
The sound
His music is mambo at its most exuberant, built on punchy big-band arrangements that made the style a global dance craze.
Legacy
He topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K. in 1955 with a mambo cover of "Cherry Pink," scored hits like "Mambo No. 5," and saw his music featured in films such as La Dolce Vita.
Signature song
Mambo No. 5
"Mambo No. 5" is his signature song, an instantly recognizable instrumental that became one of the defining tunes of the mambo era.
Top songs
- 1
Mambo No. 5 ★
Mambo No 5 · 2006
- 2
Que Rico el Mambo
El Rey del Mambo · 2014
- 3
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Mambo No 5 · 2006
- 4
Patricia
Coleccion Original · 1998
- 5
Mambo No. 8
Mambo Cubano · 1950