Roberto Sánchez-Ocampo, better known by his artist names Sandro or Sandro de América, Gitano, and the Argentine Elvis, was a notable Argentine singer and actor. He is considered The father ofArgentine Rock for being one of the first rock artists to sing in Spanish in Latin America. He edited 52 official records and sold 8 million copies although other sources state that he sold over 22 million. Some of his most successful songs are Dame fuego, Rosa, Rosa, Quiero llenarme de ti, Penumbras, Porque yo te amo, Así, Mi amigo el Puma, Tengo, Trigal and Una muchacha y una guitarra. The single Rosa, Rosa sold 2 million copies, being his most recognizable and famous song. Another of his hits, "Tengo" was given 15th place among the 100 best Argentine rock songs by both MTV and Rolling Stone magazine. Sandro was also the first Latin American artist to sing at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden. In 2005 Sandro was awarded a Latin Grammy honoring his career.
Biography
Sandro was born in Buenos Aires to Irma Nydia Ocampo and Vicente Sánchez in 1945. He was raised in the southern suburb of Valentín Alsina, and learned to play the guitar as a child, identifying his music as Romani. His paternal grandfather was Russian Rom from Hungary – Roma are known in Argentina as Gitanos. Initially, in his schooldays, he imitated the king of rock and rollElvis Presley, but afterwards created a personal style that marked his career and became a pioneer in Castilian-language rock music. On November 10, 1971, he finally was able to see Presley live, at the Boston Garden, during a tour he did of that city. In 1961, he started the musical group Sandro & los de Fuego, which gained popularity on the TV show Sábados Circulares, and became widely known in the 1960s. With songs such as "Ave de Paso", "Atmósfera Pesada", "Quiero Llenarme de Ti", "Tengo", "¿A esto le llamas amor?", "Eres el demonio disfrazado", "Porque yo te amo", "Penumbras", "Una muchacha y una guitarra", "Trigal" or "Rosa, Rosa", success of his career kept growing steadily. Sandro also had the leading role in 11 films, including Quiero llenarme de ti and Subí que te llevo, and directed one feature, Tú me enloqueces, in 1976. His co-star in the latter film, Argentine actress Susana Giménez, was offered a TV variety show after he refused to host it; Giménez's show, named Hola Susana, would become a ratings leader shortly after its 1987 launch. He also starred in two soap operas, notably Fue sin Querer, with Puerto Rican actress Gladys Rodríguez. As mentioned earlier, he was the first Latino singer to sell out the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden,, five times during the 1970s. He also appeared a couple of times on The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as with Domenico Modugno, The Doors and many others. Sandro's songs have been recorded by international artists such us Shirley Bassey, Liza Minnelli, Burt Bacharach, Dalida, Shirley MacLaine, Toto Cutugno, Nancy Wilson, Mary Hopkin, Loredana Bertè, Umberto Tozzi, Gilbert Bécaud, Milva, Julio Iglesias, José Luis Rodríguez and Engelbert Humperdinck. Argentine and other Latin American artists released an album in 1990 called Padre del rock en castellano in his honor. Sandro continued releasing studio albums in the early 1990s and reappeared on stage in 1993 with a new show, that was presented at Teatro Gran Rex, a prestigious popular music venue in Buenos Aires, performing 18 attendance-record–breaking consecutive concerts. The news that he suffered from emphysema was made public in 1998, causing a great generalized concern among his followers from around the world. Sandro had been a self declared longtime cigarette smoking addict, which undoubtedly was the main cause of the disease.
