Biography
Carlos Gardel (1890 - 1935) was a famous Argentine tango singer, also a songwriter, composer and actor, one of the most important performers in the first half of the 20th century.
Born on December 1, 1890 in Toulouse, France, his mother was an unmarried washerwoman and the baby was declared with unknown father as the father was married and had no intention of recognizing his son. A year later his mother picked him up and they returned to Argentina, where he came from, possibly to escape the social stigma of having a child out of wedlock. They settled in Buenos Aires, and Carlos when he grew up, he started to sing in bars and private parties. He was a baritone, with great musicality and dramatic expression, he created many masterpieces through the hundreds of tangos he recorded in his life. He toured in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia, while appearing in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Madrid. He sold 70,000 records in the first three months of a 1928 visit to Paris. As his popularity grew, he began making films for Paramount in France and the United States.
At the height of his fame, on June 24, 1935, he died along with many of his associates in a plane crash in Medellin, Colombia.