Bárbaro Díez Junco, born on December 4, 1909, in Bolondrón, Matanzas Province, Cuba, was a tenor who became a prominent singer of the danzón. His professional career began in the late 1920s when he formed the trio Los Gracianos with Graciano Gómez and Isaac Oviedo. In 1935, he joined Antonio María Romeu's orchestra as the lead vocalist, a position he held for two decades. After Romeu's death in 1955, he took over the direction of the orchestra, which was later renamed Orquesta de Barbarito Díez, and remained with the ensemble for over fifty years. He recorded eleven danzón albums, and also recorded songs such as “Cuba y sus misterios” and “La reina”. He toured the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela, where he recorded the albums Barbarito Díez canta a Venezuela Volume 1 (1977) and Barbarito Díez canta a Venezuela Volume 2 (1980), as well as a bolero collaboration with Rondalla Venezolana in 1984. He retired in the early 1990s due to health issues and died on May 6, 1995, in Havana, Cuba, from diabetes complications.
