El Príncipe Gitano

Spanish flamenco singer (1928–2020)

El Príncipe Gitano
Birth name	Enrique Castellón Vargas
Born	(1928-04-07)7 April 1928^[1] Valencia, Spain
Died	22 April 2020(2020-04-22) (aged 92) Mandayona, Spain
Genres	flamenco
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument(s)	voice
Years active	1946-2000s

Musical artist

Enrique Castellón Vargas (7 April 1928 – 22 April 2020), better known as El Príncipe Gitano ("The Gypsy Prince") was a Spanish flamenco singer, actor and dancer. He was the brother of rumba singer Dolores Vargas "La Terremoto".

Career

At the age of 14 he made his debut at the Teatro Calderón in Madrid in the same show as Lola Flores and very soon after he performed his first show, “Pinceladas”, becoming a great figure in Spanish song in the 1950s, despite the fact that his real passion was bullfighting, but he did not have success in that field.^[2]

His most famous song is "Obí, obá". He also made a peculiar version of the Elvis Presley song "In the Ghetto".^[3]

He died due to COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.^[4]

Filmography

Brindis al cielo (1954)
Un heredero en apuros (1956)
Veraneo en España (1956)
El alma de la copla (1965)
El milagro del cante (1967)
Españolear (1969)

References

^ Adiós al ‘Príncipe Gitano’, figura imprescindible de la escena flamenca del siglo XX (in Spanish)
^ Muere El Príncipe Gitano, un artista que soñó con ser torero in Aplausos (in Spanish)
^ Muere con coronavirus el actor y cantante Enrique Castellón Vargas, 'El Príncipe Gitano' in eldiario.es (in Spanish)
^ Fallece por coronavirus a los 88 años el 'Príncipe gitano' (in Spanish)