Alberto Cortez born 11 March 1940

Alberto Cortez (born José Alberto García Gallo; 11 March 1940 – 4 April 2019) was an Argentine singer and songwriter. Cortez and his wife Renée Govaerts lived in Madrid. 

Cortez was born in Rancul, La Pampa Province, Argentina. He began elementary school at the Alberto Williams conservatory at the age of six. He began composing songs at twelve, including "Un cigarrillo, la lluvia y tú". Later he entered Manuel Ignacio Molina de San Rafael Junior High School in Mendoza province. There he continued his studies of music at the Chopin of San Rafael conservatory under the tutelage of Professor Robert Whermouth.  

At seventeen, Cortez became the singer of the Arizona orchestra, directed by Ricardo Ortiz and Luis Pasquier, sharing the bill with Enrique Llambí. At that time he became known in that city as "Chiquito Garcia". At eighteen, he went to study in the Social Sciences and Law School of Buenos Aires and sang in bars to help himself with his studies. 

Later Cortez began to sing in the orchestra of Mario Cardi and was contracted to sing in the San Francisco jazz orchestra. He traveled all over the country with them and began to use his pseudonym "Alberto Cortez" while singing with the orchestra of Armando Pointier. Cortez dropped out of school and dedicated himself fully to music. 

In 1960 at the age of twenty, Cortez travelled to Antwerp, Belgium where he recorded his first album. His record "Sucu Sucu" reached number one. Cortez met Renee Govaerts and later married her. During 1961 he toured Canada and the United States after which he spent three months in Paris to learn French and recorded "The Staircase" in French under the musical direction of Paul Mauriat. He then visits Madrid where his songs “Sucu Sucu” and “Las Palmeras” are very popular. Enrique Martín Garea offers him a contract with Hispavox to record albums for Spain and Latin American countries. He recorded his first album accompanied by Waldo de los Ríos and his orchestra. 

                                  

On June 2, 1964 he married Renée Govaerts in Aarschot, Belgium, the bride's hometown. The couple then settled in Madrid  After a difficult start he consolidated himself as one of the most renowned composer-singers of Latin America with hits like "Mi árbol y yo", "Mariana", "Como el primer día", "A partir de mañana" and "Callejero". 

In 1967 he gave his first one-man recital at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. To the astonishment of the audience, he sang songs by Yupanqui, Dávalos and included in the program some poems of Pablo Neruda set to music. In this recital he premiered his song "En un rincón del alma". Critics were unanimous in welcoming a brilliant new Alberto Cortez. By the end of the decade Cortez visits Mexico and acts on television in the programs "Espectacular Domecq". 

During 1972 Cortez received his first gold record for "Mi árbol y yo". He also received the first "Golden Herald", awarded by the newspaper El Heraldo de México and also the "Golden Microphone", awarded by the Association of Communicators of Mexico. In 1973 he was awarded the second "Golden Herald", and between 1974 and 1978 he received four gold records between Spain and Mexico and two more "Golden Heralds". He gained great popularity in Argentina and in 1979 he performed at the Teatro Coliseo and also at the Cosquín festival. 

During the 80’s and into the 90’s he toured throughout Latin America and performed in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico and the United States. In New York he performed for the first time at the famous Carnegie Hall. During the summer season in Mar del Plata in 1996, he suffered a stroke and was operated on for a carotid obstruction by Dr. Juan Carlos Parodi and his team. The operation was successful but he was never able to play the guitar agian, however he continued to give recitals with his musicians under the musical direction of Ricardo Miralles all over the world. 

He remained very busy during the new millennium, recording new albums and performing concerts in different cities in Spain, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as in  Argentina. The song "Cuando un amigo se va" along with "Alfonsina y el mar" and "Gracias a la vida" are considered, according to a survey by a Chilean newspaper, as the three best songs in Spanish of the 20th century. In 2007 He received the Grammy for Musical Excellence in Las Vegas.

He died as a result of a gastric hemorrhage on Thursday, 4 April 2019, in the city of Móstoles, in the Community of Madrid, Spain, at 79 years of age. 

(Edited mainly from the Alberto Cortez website)