Pepe Blanco

Biography

Jose Blanco Ruiz, known as Pepe Blanco, was a Spanish singer. He was born in Logroño, the typical street of the Old Rúa, on 19th March 1911. In his youth he worked as a taxi driver in the La Riojan, where he got married in 1935. In the later years of the Spanish Civil War he became popular by imitating Pepe Marchena in the Coffee Ibiza, a popular establishment of Logroño, which made him gain the nickname of Marchenita. In 1944 he recorded his first album and in 1946 he formed an artistic pair wi...

Jose Blanco Ruiz, known as Pepe Blanco, was a Spanish singer. He was born in Logroño, the typical street of the Old Rúa, on 19th March 1911. In his youth he worked as a taxi driver in the La Riojan, where he got married in 1935. In the later years of the Spanish Civil War he became popular by imitating Pepe Marchena in the Coffee Ibiza, a popular establishment of Logroño, which made him gain the nickname of Marchenita. In 1944 he recorded his first album and in 1946 he formed an artistic pair with the singer Carmen Morell, with whom he worked for many years and they separated in 1961, when he started to live in Madrid with his wife and his children. He recorded more than 150 songs, 30 of them with Carmen, and participated in many movies. He also acted with outstanding people such as Juanito Valderrama, Rafael Farina and Antonio Molina. In 1980 a street in his native city was dedicated to him, before he passed away on 17th December 1981. One of his children inherited the name of his father, as well as his grandson and his great-grandchild. Some of the songs that he recorded are Cocidito madrileño, ¡Ay, mi sombrero!, En La Rioja nací, Madrid Tiene 6 Letras, Entre Dos Corazones. He also showed up in a scene of "Bodas de Sangre", a part of the Carlos Saura´s dance trilogy, based on the Federico García Lorca´s work with Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos with a pasodoble, ¡Ay, mi sombrero!. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.