Palito Ortega

Ramón Bautista Ortega (Spanish pronunciation: [raˈmom bawˈtista oɾˈteɣa]; born February 28, 1941) is an Argentine singer and actor, better known as Palito Ortega (pronounced [paˈlito oɾˈteɣa]). Ortega is an icon of Argentine popular music, and is considered one of the main representatives of the musical style called New wave that marked the Hispanic-American music between the years '60 and '70. He reached international fame, particularly in Latin America and Spain, during the 1960s, when the rock en español style of rock and roll music was popularized among teenagers in the region.

Biography

Youth

Ortega was born to a very poor family in Lules, and had to work from a young age, selling newspapers in San Miguel de Tucumán, and finding a job at a store. His real passion, however, was music, as he had been dreaming of becoming a singer since early childhood; as a teenager, Ortega was an admirer of Elvis Presley.

Ortega moved to Buenos Aires in 1956, where he sold coffee in the city's parks, corners, and streets. He used his work as a coffee seller to get into show business by setting up a coffee-selling spot near Buenos Aires' Channel Seven Public Television station. This worked well for Ortega, as many entertainers would stop by to buy coffee from his stand, and he became acquainted with some of the best known Argentine rock musicians of the era. Ortega also worked near Radio Belgrano, where many of the singers he met while selling coffee near the television station would recognize him and form a bond with the young star in the making.