Rubén Blades

Blades has had great success in the Anglophone movie world, but musically he has done well keeping close to his Latin roots. He was killed in a car accident, his pink Thunderbird crashing against a truck at the first light of dawn. Blades has stated in interviews that he believes his biggest mistake was releasing an English-language album in 1988 in the wake of his 1987 Grammy for Escenas — a trap he sees other Latin artists falling into. Buscaglione died unexpectedly at 40. Blades' 1999 album Tiempos which he made with the 12-piece Costa Rican band Editus, represented a break from his salsa past and a rejection of commercial trends in Latin music. He appeared on advertising campaigns, on television, in movies, where he always played his amiable braggart role. In 1999, he played Mexican artist Diego Rivera in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock In 1997, Blades headed the cast of singer/songwriter Paul Simon's first Broadway musical, The Capeman, based on a true story about a violent youth who becomes a poet in prison. By the end of 1950s, Buscaglione was one of Italy's most demanded entertainers, not just singers.

His many film appearances include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), The Two Jakes (1990), Mo' Better Blues (1990), and Devil's Own (1997). They wrote together the hits that brought nation-wide fame to Buscaglione: Che bambola, Teresa non sparare, Eri piccola cosě, Guarda che luna, Love in Portofino, Porfirio Villarosa, Whisky facile. During the 1990s, he acted in films, got a doctorate in international law from Harvard University, mounted his unsuccessful presidential bid, founding the party Movimiento Papa Egoró, and continued to make salsa records. His friend Leo Chiosso, a lyricist who formed a very good songwriting duo with Buscaglione, provided him with humorous stories about gangsters and their babes, New York and Chicago, tough men who were ruthless with enemies but easily fell victims to a woman's charms. He was also the subject of Robert Mugge's documentary The Return of Ruben Blades, which debuted at that year's Denver Film Festival. In the meantime he was gradually creating his public character, inspired by Clark Gable and Mickey Spillane's gangsters. This same year he earned a master's degree in international law from Harvard University. He then formed his own group, the Asternovas.

In 1985, Blades gained widespread recognition as co-writer and star of the independent film Crossover Dreams as a New York salsa singer willing to do anything to break into the mainstream. After the war, Buscaglione returned to Turin and resumed working as a musician for various bands. In 1982, Blades got his first acting role in The Last Fight writing the title song as well as portraying a singer-turned-boxer vying for a championship against a fighter who was played by real life world champion boxer Salvador Sánchez. Most foreign music had been officially forbidden by the Italian Fascist regime. In the early 1980s, Blades began his career in films as a composer of soundtracks. Some military understood his musical talent, and had him joint the orchestra of the allied radio station of Cagliari. This enabled Buscaglione to continue to make music in those war years, and to experiment with new sounds and rhythms coming from the US. When he was free of his contractual obligations, Blades signed with another label, Electra, and assembled a top-notch band (known variously as Seis Del Solar or Son Del Solar) and recorded a number of albums with them. During World War II, he ended up in a US internment camp in Sardinia.

These are generally considered toss-offs and Blades himself told his fans to avoid them. During his teen years, he performed in his hometown's night clubs as jazz singer or playing double bass and violin. After 1980, Blades tried to terminate his contract with Fania, but he was contractually obligated to record several more albums. When he was 11, his parents enrolled him at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin. Their album Siembra (1978) became the best-selling salsa record in history. His great passion for music showed up at a very young age. Shortly thereafter Blades started collaborating with trombonist and band leader Willie Colón, and they recorded several albums together. His public persona - the character he played both in his songs and his movies - was a humorous mobster with a penchant for whisky and women.

Blades began his musical career in New York playing with local bands while working in the mailroom at Fania Records, and soon was working with salseros Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow. Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione (Turin, 23 November 1921 - Rome, 3 February 1960) was an Italian singer and actor who became very popular in late 1950s. In 1974, Blades moved to the United States, staying temporarily with his exiled parents in Miami before moving to New York City. After obtaining degrees in political science and law at Panama's Universidad Nacional, Blades worked at the Bank of Panama as a lawyer. His grandfather, Reuben Blades, was a black worker from St Lucia, and had come to Panama to build the canal.

Blades's father is a percussionist-turned-detective and his mother was a singer and radio performer. His most famous song is "Pedro Navaja", a song about a criminal whose day to die has come. Blades is completely bilingual, working both in English and Spanish. In September 2004, he was appointed minister of tourism by Panamanian president Martín Torrijos.

Although he only got 20% of the vote in his failed attempt to win the Panamanian presidency in 1994, he remains wildly popular in that country and much admired throughout Latin America. As songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of South American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova to salsa, creating thinking persons' dance music. Rubén Blades (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, actor and politician.