Biography
The life of Carlos Gardel
He was born Charles Romuald Gardès and died the most famous singer in Latin America. In 44 years he went from a Buenos Aires tenement to the movie screens of New York.
Childhood in the Abasto
According to his birth certificate, Gardel was born in Toulouse, France, on 11 December 1890, the son of Berthe Gardès. In 1893 his mother emigrated with him to Buenos Aires, where she worked as an ironer. The boy grew up around the Abasto market, the neighborhood behind one of his nicknames: el Morocho del Abasto, “the dark boy from the Abasto”.
There is also a tradition, held mainly in Uruguay, that places his birth in Tacuarembó. Gardel's origins remain a passionate debate on both banks of the River Plate.
The Gardel-Razzano duo
As a young man he sang at neighborhood gatherings, political clubs and corner stores. Around 1911 he met the Uruguayan singer José Razzano, and together they formed a duo of Argentine folk music that became one of the most successful acts of its time, lasting until the mid-1920s.
Mi noche triste and the sung tango
In 1917 Gardel recorded Mi noche triste (“My sad night”), with lyrics by Pascual Contursi set to Samuel Castriota's music Lita. It is considered the birth of the tango-canción, the sung tango: a tango that tells a story in the first person. From then on, the voice took center stage in the genre.
International fame
By the 1920s Gardel was a star in Argentina and Uruguay, and his tours took him to Spain and France, where he triumphed on the stages of Paris. He recorded hundreds of songs and became the most popular singer of the River Plate.
The movies
In the early 1930s he made films for Paramount at the Joinville studios near Paris, and later in New York. Films such as Luces de Buenos Aires, Melodía de arrabal, Cuesta abajo, Tango en Broadway and El día que me quieras made him famous across the Spanish-speaking world. With lyricist Alfredo Le Pera he wrote some of his best-loved tangos for those films.
Medellín, 24 June 1935
During a Latin American tour, the plane he was on collided with another aircraft during takeoff at the Medellín airport in Colombia. Gardel died on 24 June 1935, together with Le Pera and other members of his company. His remains reached Buenos Aires in early 1936, where huge crowds bid him farewell. He rests in Chacarita Cemetery.
Legacy
His early death turned him into a legend. His voice is still the benchmark for sung tango, his songs are reinterpreted in every style, and each 11 December, his birthday, Argentina celebrates National Tango Day.