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Artist
Ibrahim Ferrer (February 20, 1927 – August 18, 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with the group Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental, and Mario Patterson. After his retirement in 1991, he was brought back in the studio to record with the Afro-Cuban All Stars and Buena Vista Social Club, in March 1996. He then toured internationally with these revival groups and recorded several solo albums for World Circuit, before his death in 2005. Ferrer was born at a dance club in San Luis, near the city of Santiago de Cuba. His mother died when he was twelve, leaving him orphaned and forcing him to sing on the streets to earn money. The following year, Ferrer joined his first musical group—a duet with his cousin—called Jovenes del Son. They performed at private functions, and the two youths managed to scrape together enough money to live. Career Over the next few years, Ferrer would perform with many musical groups, including Conjunto Sorpresa and Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental. As lead singer of the latter, Ferrer recorded in 1956 his biggest hit, "El platanal de Bartolo". In 1961, he also sang lead for Mario Patterson y su Orquesta Oriental on "Cariño falso", a standard of the guaracha repertoire. Los Bocucos In 1953, Ferrer began performing with Pacho Alonso's group in Santiago, Cuba. In 1959, the group moved permanently to Havana, renaming themselves Los Bocucos, after a type of drum widely used in Santiago,