Biography
Spanish vocal group of rumba flamenca founded in 1973 by brothers Enrique Salazar, Juan Salazar, and Cristóbal Salazar who belonged to a large musical family with clear gypsy roots. They were all born in Badajoz, the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain but the family moved to Madrid when they were children.
At the beginning, the group had a fourth member with friend Francisco Giménez, but he dropped out of the ensemble just before they became famous. After performing in small venues for several years, they were discovered by singer-producer Ramón Arcusa, of Dúo Dinámico fame, who took them to EMI records and began producing them. In 1977 they had their first big hit with "Dame veneno" and became national celebrities. Other hits followed and brother Enrique developed into an accomplished writer for the group besides being a terrific vocalist. Their sound was fresh, charismatic, energetic, infectious and hard to resist.
Los Chunguitos achieved great success performing in the best night clubs, discotheques, concert arenas, as well as on television. Soon their music started showing up on the soundtracks of several films which carried their unique sound all over the world. In 1980 Cristóbal left the group and was promptly replaced by José Salazar, another talented brother, and Los Chunguitos didn't miss a beat. However in 1982, the group was dealt a severe blow with the death of Enrique to throat cancer. Heartbroken, Los Chunguitos had to go back to performing in order to fulfill previously signed contracts, substituting Enrique with cousin Manuel Salazar.
The group continued their hit-making career through 2006. At the same time they widened their musical horizons by mixing the always popular rhythms of rumba flamenca with melodic Spanish songs. They also became more socially conscious writing songs about the marginalization of gypsies, the injustice of poverty, the danger of drugs, as well as other topics of public interest. In 2006 Manuel decided to leave the group and Los Chunguitos became a duo with Juan and José as the only remaining members sometimes being billed as The Salazar Brothers. However the name "Chunguitos" had stuck for good and the brothers, now truly musical legends, continued to record and perform as Los Chunguitos for many years to the delight of their fans.
