Silvestre Vargas

Born: December 31, 1901 in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, México
Died: October 7, 1985 in Guadalajara, México

Leader of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán since 1928, an ensemble from Jalisco begun by his father in 1898. Vargas, along with Rubén Fuentes, became pivotal composers in the evolution of the Ranchera genre. Silvestre and the Mariachi Vargas made dozens of recordings and starred in many films through the 1960s.