Delfín Amaya, a member of the duo Los Amaya and the composer behind songs such as ‘Vete’ and ‘Caramelos’, has died in Barcelona at the age of 74. Alongside his brother José, Los Amaya became icons of the Catalan rumba, even performing at the closing ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games alongside artists like Peret and Los Manolos.
The artist was born in Oviedo in 1952, but moved to Barcelona at a very young age and was able to nurture his artistic vocation in the Raval neighborhood. Being a relative of the dancer Carmen Amaya, music has been part of Delfín’s life from an early age.
Los Amaya came to life in 1969, a year before the decade in which they would attain their greatest successes under producer Tony Roland. During this period they released tracks that are now classics, from ‘Vete’, later sampled by C. Tangana in ‘Yate’ (2021), to ‘Caramelos’, an anthem of Spanish village fiestas.
As one of the groups that fused rumba with more modern or pop-adjacent styles, Los Amaya are credited with introducing the electric guitar into rumba, sharing stages with figures such as El Pescaílla or Gato Pérez.
