Pedro Pablo Peña

Pedro Pablo Peña was a Colombian composer of folk music, especially vallenato. He was born on June 3, 1950 in the village of San Cayetano, jurisdiction of the municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno, Montes de María, center of the department of Bolívar; and died in Cartagena on November 13, 1999, after the short harvest of prizes and money that his songs lavished on him. The son of a peasant family, he started in this work in the late seventies, but his greatest boom came in the mid-eighties. However, Peña was more famous in Mexico than in his own country. In the Aztec country he was associated with merengue and salsa figures such as Sergio Vargas, Los Vecinos and Kinito Méndez, among others. During his lifetime, Peña composed more than 150 songs, which were interpreted by great stars of Caribbean folklore. Some of Peña's songs recorded by international stars that were big hits are: Hola, by the Rosario Brothers; Rómpete el cuero, by Kinito Méndez; Una mirada, by Bananas; Penas al viento, by Sergio Vargas. He also recorded songs for orchestras in which he himself often participated, such as Barbacoa, Dolcey Gutiérrez, Rafael Ricardo and Lucho Vega, Rafael Santos and Los Hijos del Sol. Some of the mentions given to Peña for his work and contribution to Caribbean folklore include two Gold Congos in the Carnival of Barranquilla, he also won Platinum and Gold Discs as the best composer of the carnivals.