David Lama

Born

1923-12-23

Died

1985-05-11

Birthplace

Ciudad de México, México

Biography

David Lama Portillo, born December 23, 1923, in Mexico City, and died of lung cancer on May 5, 1985, is a Mexican singer and composer. He is the son of a singer of the same name, David Lama. David Lama Jr. composed songs such as "Beso chiquito," "Quédate," "Regalo de reyes," and the Spanish lyrics for "Candilejas." He began singing in 1947, performing songs by Rafael Hernández Marín. David Lama premiered the bolero "Yo vivo mi vida" by Federico Baena. For a time, he was part of Agustín Lara's orchestra as a singer, gaining great popularity during the 1950s. He also sang with Antonio Escobar's orchestra. On an artistic tour of Cuba, he recorded traditional songs such as "Quiéreme mucho" and "Tu qué has hizo" by renowned composers Gonzalo Roig and Eusebio Delfín, respectively. In their book "My Girlfriend, Sadness," Guadalupe Loaeza and Pavel Granados point out that David Lama was a fleeting interpreter of Agustín Lara's work, and it was he who premiered the song "Luna, Luna, Luna" for him in 1954, which Linda Arce later also recorded. David Lama lived for some time in the city of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, and even regularly performed on radio station XELI back in the 1960s. Lama composed the song "Quédate," which was performed and recorded by "Los Santos," a trio from Guerrero. We also remember him for his musical contributions to films such as "The Automata of Death" (1962), "Dynamite Kid" (1962), "Neutrón, the Black Masked Man" (1960)," and "The Mummies of Guanajuato" (1972). David Lama Portillo died of lung cancer on May 5, 1985.