Mexican singer Tony Camargo, who recorded the iconic song “El año viejo” 66 years ago, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 94 in the Mexican city of Mérida, in the state of Yucatán.
Antonio Camargo Carrasco was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, on June 1, 1926, into a family of tent artists and for 33 years he has moved to the Yucatan capital. There he married the Yucatecan Guadalupe González, who died some years ago.
The daughter of the singer from Guadalajara, Lourdes Camargo, who lives in Mexico City, came to Mérida a few days ago to take care of him after foot surgery that was complicated by diabetes.
It was the municipal authorities of the Merida City Council who confirmed the death of this artist so loved in his homeland.
Likewise, the National Fonoteca of Mexico also shared and regretted the news through Twitter.
“The Fonoteca regrets the loss of the Jalisco singer Tony Camargo (1926-2020). Without a doubt, one of the great figures of the dance halls. He shared the stage with Benny Moré, Wello Rivas and Luis Arcaraz, among others. And today is immortal his interpretation of ‘The old year’ “, published the institution.
And it is that, since he recorded it in 1953 for his first album, this melodious way of saying goodbye to the year left its mark on his career and for 66 years it has given him more fame than money throughout the length and breadth of Latin America.
On one occasion, in December 2018, he confessed in an interview with Efe that he never thought that 13 years later, his song “El año viejo” would continue, “unless it would become a musical jewel in Latin America.”
“Frankly, I did not expect the song to transcend, because I had recorded other songs such as ‘La bandolera’, ‘La engañadora’ and ‘Partido por la medio’, but I was fortunate that the public liked that song,” he told Efe in his Merida home.
The arrival in Mérida in 1988 was not accidental, since his wife Gilda Guadalupe González Cetina, who died a few years ago was a Yucatecan, and after Hurricane Gilberto (1988) they decided to move.
Since then he joined the Jaranera Orchestra of the Merida City Council and after retired they continued to invite him to sing especially at the end of the year.
Tony Camargo regretted not having met the author of “El año viejo”, the Colombian Crescencio Salcedo.
As if his mind went back to 1953, when he recorded the song whose refrain “He left me a goat, a black donkey, a white mare and a good mother-in-law” resonates in the homes of Latin America, the singer recalled that the score brought her to Mexico from Caracas along with others.
On an anniversary to Merida, he said: “I give him my blessings, it is the only thing I can give him because I am not a man of money or power; I am rich because of the affection and love that Yucatecans give me, they are cool with me.”
Antonio Camargo Carrasco was for 31 years the singer of jaranas, guarachas and boleros of the Merida City Council.
In 2018 he expressed to Efe the request he had for the public: that the world bring joy to his loved ones, “it is as great a desire as I have to continue singing,” he said on that occasion.
And it is that Camargo sang to the end in the streets of his beloved Merida and shared infinite music with his friends, at home, something that, he expressed on several occasions, allowed him to spend a quiet and pleasant old age.
“Today I wish that happiness embraces you, that you are successful and healthy every day and that you never forget ‘The Old Year'”, that interview ended.
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