Tongo

Musical Artist

1957 –

52

Who is Tongo?

Abelardo Gutiérrez Alanya, known by his nickname "Tongo", is a Peruvian singer-songwriter and actor. He began his music career in 1980 as a singer of Peruvian cumbia, a type of popular music. Tongo was largely unknown outside of his musical niche until his song "La pituca", whose theme focuses on social status and inequality, attained national notability at the start of the twenty-first century. In 2010, Peruvian newspaper El Comercio listed Tongo as one of the most popular artists in Peruvian show business.

An important part of Tongo's success has been his amiable relationship with the Peruvian mainstream media and willingness to use his popularity towards commercial advertisements and political campaigns. His tumultuous friendship with Emmy Award-winning writer and journalist Jaime Bayly proved particularly crucial for Tongo's rise to fame, as he became a regular guest in Bayly's television program in Peru. In the realm of politics, aside from promoting Bayly's election to the presidency with the song "Jaime para presidente", Tongo unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2005 and caused controversy when he participated in Lourdes Flores Nano's 2010 campaign for the mayorship of Lima.

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Born
Sep 24, 1957
Junín, Peru

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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