Born in Puerto Rico, Rafael Hernández Marín was a prolific musician and songwriter responsible for hundreds of songs in the Latin American repertoire.
During World War I, he was a member of the United States Army’s Harlem Hell fighters musical band, and afterwards he started writing and touring with different bands. Rafael wrote songs for a wide variety of genres including bolero, guaracha, danza, zarzuela, lullabies, and the waltz, and some of his greatest hits are “Lamento borincano”, “Capullito de alhelí”, “Preciosa” “Campanitas de cristal”, “Cachita”, “Silencio”, “El cumbanchero”, “Ausencia” and “Perfume de gardenias”.
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