Rubén Rada: Biography, Facts and Career

Omar Ruben Rada Silva (born 16 July 1943, Montevideo, Uruguay) is an Uruguayan musician, singer, songwriter, percussionist, and actor. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Uruguayan popular music, he is known for blending Afro-Uruguayan traditions—particularly candombe—with rock, soul, jazz, and funk. Rada began his career in the 1960s and co-founded the band El Kinto with Eduardo Mateo. The group is recognized for pioneering candombe beat and for being among the first South American rock bands to sing in Spanish while incorporating Latin percussion into a rock format. In the early 1970s, he formed Totem, noted for its fusion of Afro-Uruguayan rhythms with rock influences. Rada later collaborated with Hugo and Osvaldo Fattoruso in the United States–based jazz fusion group Opa, contributing significantly to the album Magic Time (1977). In the 1980s, Rada relocated to Buenos Aires, where he led an ensemble featuring both Uruguayan and Argentine musicians. The group produced a series of recordings that combined candombe, jazz, and rock, a period often considered among the most significant in his career. During the 1990s, he lived in Mexico, working as a sideman with various artists, including Tania Libertad. He also recorded three albums in the United States during this period: Montevideo (1996), Montevideo II (1999), and Rada Factory (unreleased). Rada returned to Uruguay at the end of the decade, entering a period of broad recognition and commercial success throughout the 2000s in Uruguay, Argentina, and other parts of Latin America. In 2011, he received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his influential career and his contributions to the fusion of candombe with jazz, funk, soul, and other genres. In 2013 Rada received Berklee’s Master of Latin Music award from the Berklee College of Music.

In 2020, his song “El Ómnibus” was sampled by Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist in the track 1985.

Quick facts about Rubén Rada

• Full name: Rubén Rada
• Born: 1943-06-17
• Nationality: Uruguay
• Known as: Musician
• Wikidata ID: Q974970

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.