Julio Jaramillo

Julio Alfredo Jaramillo Laurido, affectionately known as 'J.J.', was born into poverty in Guayaquil on October 1, 1935. Making his first recordings as a teenager, his 1957 recording of Benito de Jesús's bolero Nuestro Juramento became an unprecedented pan-Latin American smash hit.

Possessing a velvety, heartbreaking tenor voice of incomparable warmth, Jaramillo toured from Mexico to Argentina, recording thousands of songs across pasillos, valses, and tangos. His untimely death in Guayaquil at age forty-two sparked an outpouring of 200,000 mourners filling the streets. His birthday, October 1, is celebrated as National Pasillo Day.