Ibrahim Ferrer

Singer and composer.

Ibrahim Ferrer was born on February 20, 1927 in Santiago de Cuba province. He was the only member of his family who became a professional musician.
Being a child, around 1940, he joined Los Jóvenes del Son group; afterwards, he performed with important groups such as Maravilla Beltrán and the Chepín-Chovén Orchestra with which he gained great popularity in his country. Likewise, he sang together with the Great Benny Moré and, in 1953, he joined Pacho Alonso and Enrique Bonne. Six years later, he traveled to Havana with Pacho Alonso y sus Bocucos and remained with this orchestra for more than two decades.
In 1997, the Cuban musician Juan de Marcos and the producer Ry Cooder decided to include Ibrahim Ferrer in the Buena Vista Social Club project. Ibrahim Ferrer composed the famous son entitled De Camino a la Vereda contained in the CD Buena Vista... and sang 12 of the 14 songs of said CD.
With over 60 years in the artistic world, his work had a great international impact. He had a unique voice capable of singing a bolero, a son or a guaracha. Ibrahim Ferrer displayed vitality and charisma on the stage and developed an intense international career acclaimed by every audience.

He granted many awards, specially, two Grammy Awards, and also received the National Culture Award.

Ibrahim Ferrer died in Havana, on August 6th, 2005.