The Lost Art of Bolero

One of the oldest forms of Spanish music, the bolero has seemed to disappear in recent years. With the Latin market is rapidly shifting toward urban super-dominance

If you couldn’t guess, I’ve been listening to a lot of slower, bolero music lately (don’t worry about it). Tonight, for whatever reason, it struck me. I’m pretty plugged into Latin music and all of the latest releases but I haven’t heard of a purely bolero hit, or even notable track, in years.

What happened to this foundational genre? Can it be revived? Who would lead the charge? These are some of the big questions that led me to write this post.

The History of Bolero

The term “bolero” refers to two separate movements; the Spanish and the Cuban.

The origin of the term comes from 1700s Spain. The Spanish version of bolero is much slower and usually in a 4/4 time (for those musically trained readers). Spanish Bolero evolved from a combination of “contrandanza” and “sevillanas”. As the genre developed over time, it become very localized within Spain as different cities each developed their form of the dance. This eventually spread to the European continent and the Americas as a ballroom dance.

The modern form of bolero finds it roots in Cuba in the early 20th century. Arriving from Spain, the genre quickly took root and began adapting to it’s new surroundings. Written in 1883, the first bolero song written in the New World came from Jose Pepe Sanchez and was titled Tristezas. The song is still performed to this day. The Cuban bolero is the more common form found in Latin music throughout the 20th century.

The genre continued to grow and evolve as it spread throughout the Spanish speaking world. Among the most influential writers and composers are a number of Mexican artists including Armando Manzanero. Some of the most popular early artists include Los Panchos, Javier Solis, and Los Tres Reyes. A 2nd major wave of bolero artists included Julio Iglesias, Juan Gabriel, and Jose Jose emerged in the 60s and 70s. Luis Miguel later revitalized the genre in the 90s.

Spainish was not the only language for bolero. American artists such as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and others recorded bolero tracks of their own over the years. Perry Como’s It‘s Impossible, for example, is an American version of the bolero classic Somos Novios.

In Modern Times

Luis Miguel’s Romance album quadrilogy helped to revive the genre throughout the 90s, bringing a younger audience to the form. Miguel’s first bolero album Romance was the most successful of the 4 and the most commercially successful album of his entire career.

The last major hit which can truly be considered a bolero has to be Juan Gabriel’s Abrazame Muy Fuerte which was released in 2001 (a fact that blows my mind). The song earned inclusion in Billboard’s “100 Greatest songs of 2001” list.

Bolero’s influence waned throughout the 2000s with it’s most notable reemergence appearing in the Pop Opera genre. Artists like Il Divo, Il Volo, and Josh Groban revived a number of classic songs with an operatic bend throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Continuing Influence

It’s hard to overstate the importance of bolero music The genre is foundational to Latin music as a whole but specifically to bachata, which is the combination of bolero with Dominican influence. This connection becomes very evident once you start to look for the similarities in lyrics and subjects between the two genres. Artists like Juan Luis Guerra, Prince Royce, and Romeo Santos are in many ways the ambassadors for this new wave of bolero. Ironically, the song Hasta Que Me Olvides, which became a major hit for Luis Miguel was originally written and recorded by Juan Luis Guerra but never used.

Songs like Que Nadie Sepa Mi Sufrir, En Mi Viejo San Juan, Besame Mucho, and Historia de un Amor all find there roots in this genre. I could probably give you 3 examples of covers of each of those songs. Besame Mucho alone is the most recorded song in the Spanish language. Songs like these have found life in nearly every genre and sub-genre of Latin music. They’re indispensable classics. Bolero is at the core of each of these songs, and many more, showing us that the genre isn’t dead yet.

Hasta Que Se Vuelva

To pull this together, the spirit of bolero seems to be present in some way or another in the Latin market today, but in more subtle ways. It’s rare that you’ll have an artist release something in anyway comparable to the albums of Jose Jose or Luis Miguel’s Romance. Instead, the infleunce can be subtly found in the reflective break up ballads put out by artists like J Balvin and Bad Bunny.

There’s a large part of me that wants to see a dedicated revival of the genre. When you look at the American market, you’ll notice that Driver’s License is one of the most popular songs of the year. Listen to the Olivia Rodrigo smash hit once and you’ll be laying on the floor crying. There are clearly larger trends at play that allow a song like that to dominate the charts.

A pandemic which has only accelerated and exacerbated pre-existing trends surrounding depression and social isolation will likely be shown to be a paradigm shift in musical tastes. Every season may be Sad Boy Season, at least to some degree.

Maybe a neo-bolero movement can find a place in this market. The genre inherently speaks to the hardships of love, loneliness, and heartbreak, all of which are subjects that the musical market is clearly open to consuming. Thinking of who could lead this musical movement, there are a few names that come to mind. There are the obvious names like Marc Anthony, Fonseca, and C. Tangana. This may be a little out of the box but Bad Bunny, who has already shown some bolero skills and who’s music often thematically connects with bolero’s past, could be the perfect candidate. If I could sing, I would certainly take a shot myself. But alas, I can’t sing hence why I’m writing and not recording.

Do you want to see the genre return? If so, who should release the first album? Let us know in the comments.