Delfín Amaya, member of the historic duo Los Amaya, has died at the age of 74 in Barcelona. The musician, singer, and guitarist leaves behind a career of more than five decades closely linked to Catalan rumba.
Together with his brother José, he reached popularity in the early 70s and built a repertoire that ended up becoming part of Spanish popular music, in addition to starring in one of the great international showcases of the genre during the closing of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Delfín Amaya dies at 74 in Barcelona
Delfín Amaya has passed away in Barcelona at the age of 74, according to information known this Wednesday, August 19. His death represents the loss of one of the two figures who shaped Los Amaya, the duo he created with his brother José and which gained special popularity during the 70s and 80s.
The first published information presents discrepancies about the exact moment of his death. Efe Eme places the death on August 18, while other information released this Wednesday indicates a different day. For that reason, it is more prudent to maintain as confirmed data that Delfín Amaya has died in Barcelona at the age of 74 without specifying the exact date of death until there is unequivocal confirmation.
There has also not yet been a publicly confirmed cause of death in the main information about the passing. The news known this Wednesday focuses on the loss of the artist and on a career that made his name and that of his brother part of the history of Catalan rumba.
Who was Delfín Amaya
Delfín Amaya was born in Oviedo in 1952 and later moved to Barcelona, a city where he developed his musical career. A singer and guitarist, he grew up in an environment closely related to music and belonged to a family linked to the famous dancer Carmen Amaya.
From a very young age, he shared his passion for music with his brother José. The two began to develop a proposal in which Catalan rumba coexisted with pop influences, a combination that would ultimately become one of the recognizable characteristics of Los Amaya.
Delfín assumed the roles of singer and guitarist within the duo for decades. His career spanned different stages of Spanish music, from the success of the early 70s to the revival of Catalan rumba before an international audience during Barcelona 92.
Who were Los Amaya
Los Amaya were formed by the brothers José and Delfín Amaya and began their recording career in the late 60s. They released their first album in 1969, with a repertoire of songs with a marked flamenco accent, before achieving the success that would definitively place them among the main representatives of Catalan rumba.
The big leap came in 1971 with "Caramelos". The song allowed Los Amaya to reach a much wider audience and opened a stage in which the duo developed a formula that combined the roots of rumba with melodies and arrangements from other styles. That same year they also released "Ya la pagarás".
Their career took another important step in the late 70s. In 1978 they began a phase with RCA and producer Tony Ronald, a period associated with some of their most well-known songs. During the following decades, José and Delfín kept the name of Los Amaya alive until it became one of the most recognizable in Catalan rumba.
Great hits of Los Amaya
The career of Los Amaya left songs that transcended the era in which they were published. "Caramelos" was the duo's first big hit, but later came songs like "Vete", "¡Qué mala suerte la mía!", "Mujer" and "Amor, amor", which consolidated their popularity during the 70s and 80s.
"Vete" ended up becoming one of the most representative songs of Los Amaya and is one of the songs that remain associated with the duo decades after its release. Along with "Caramelos", it summarizes a stage in which the brothers managed to expand the reach of Catalan rumba and bring it closer to different audiences.
Their repertoire also includes titles like "La inyección", in addition to the songs they accumulated over several decades of activity. The combination of rumba, flamenco elements, and sounds closer to pop was one of the keys to a musical proposal that accompanied the evolution of the genre.
Los Amaya took Catalan rumba to Barcelona 92
One of the great moments in Delfín Amaya's career came in 1992, when Los Amaya participated in the closing ceremony of the Barcelona Olympic Games. The duo shared the spotlight with Peret and Los Manolos in a celebration that made Catalan rumba one of the musical protagonists of the Games' farewell.
That performance brought the music with which Delfín and José had grown up and developed their career before an international audience. By then, more than two decades had passed since "Caramelos" and Los Amaya were already part of a fundamental generation to understand the expansion of Catalan rumba.
The Olympic participation also had discographic continuity. From that experience emerged "Rumbas de Clausura", linked to the performance of Barcelona 92 and to a stage in which the genre regained enormous visibility.
The last album of Los Amaya and the legacy of Delfín
Los Amaya continued to be linked to music long after their first successes. Their last discographic work was "Vuelven... Los Amaya!", published in 2013, more than four decades after "Caramelos" introduced them to the general public.
The album featured collaborations from artists such as Antonio Carmona and Muchachito Bombo Infierno, two names from later generations that reflect the continuity of rumba and its different fusions within Spanish music.
The death of Delfín Amaya at 74 years old now closes the life trajectory of one of the two halves of Los Amaya. From their discographic debut in 1969 to Barcelona 92 and their last album in 2013, the musician leaves a career marked by more than half a century of rumba and by songs like "Caramelos" and "Vete", which remain as the most recognizable titles of the duo.