Also known as El Zorzal Criollo, or simply Carlitos, he was the voice of tango and moved crowds with songs such as “Volver”, “Por una cabeza”, “Caminito”, “Cuesta abajo”, “El día que me quieres” and “Mi Buenos Aires querido”.

Singer, composer and actor, he recorded more than 900 tangos and other musical styles such as milongas and rancheras.

“To feel that life is just a breath, that twenty years is nothing…” was one of the many sentences he immortalized in his song, and in reality for the famous artist it was “a breath of life”, because he died at age 44 in the airport of Medellin, where the plane in which he was flying to Cali collided with another aircraft while advancing on the runway and caught fire before taking off.

Precisely in honor of the birth of Gardel –and also of Julio de Caro- every December 11th the National Day of Tango is celebrated in Argentina, a country that disputed the artist's nationality with Uruguay.

However, an investigation that lasted 10 years put an end to the old controversy in 2012 by showing that the King of Tango was born in Toulouse, France, where he was named Charles Romuald Gardes. He arrived in Argentina when he was 26 months old. He had promised his mother that he would never get on a plane because he was terrified of them.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff