Julio (Alfredo) Jaramillo (Laurido) ( 1935 - 1978) was an Ecuadorian singer and musician, with great success throughout Latin America s a singer of bolero, tango and rancheras.

He was born on October 1, 1935 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He had a sister who died at the age of 5 and a brother. One of their neighbors was a musician and let little Julio play his instruments, he managed to make a bamboo guitar so he could practice. He was forced to work from a young age, he bacame a shoemaker, but his mind was on music. He formed a trio with two friends and started spinning the radio stations wanting to promote their music. He managed to attract the interest of music producers with his sweet melodic voice and in 1955 he released his first album. The second album in 1956 became a huge success, with 6,000 copies sold in one week. By the end of 1957 he had created a dozen albums, from 1959 he made appearances on television and in the cinema. He gained international recognition with the song "Nuestro Juramento" (1957) and embarked on a major tour throughout Latin America. Upon his return to Ecuador, he was arrested and forced to serve his military service. Then he continued his career with many tours and recordings.

At 18, Julio had a baby who sadly died after eight months. Afterwards, he had 5 marriages and many children, with his wives but also with many others, his hectic life was full of scandals and a lot of alcohol, he was imprisoned a few times for violence against women.

When he returned to Ecuador in 1975, after a long tour of the United States and Canada, he was ill with cirrhosis from excessive alcohol consumption. In the first days of 1978 he underwent surgery to remove gallstones. The procedure was successful, but during the postoperative period he was quite careless and his body did not respond. He finally died on February 9, 1978.

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Also from Ecuador, a traditional song: