Peret

Pedro Pubill Calaf (Spanish: [ˈpeðɾo] Catalan: [puˈβiʎ kəˈlaf]; 24 March 1935 – 27 August 2014), better known as Peret, was a Spanish Romani singer, guitar player and composer of Catalan rumba from Mataró (Barcelona). Known for his 1971 single, "Borriquito" (Ariola Records), Peret represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song "Canta y sé feliz" and performed during the closing ceremony at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In 2001, Peret recorded and released Rey De La Rumba (King of the Rumba) an album of updated versions of his older songs with guest musicians including Jarabe de Palo, El Gran Silencio, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, and more. In 1982 Peret withdrew from the music industry, joining the Iglesia Evangélica de Filadelfia, a large religious community of the Spanish Roma (gypsies) devoting himself in the following years exclusively to preaching and religious activities. After leaving the church in 1991, he resumed his music activity and recorded new albums. In 1992, he was honored for all his body of work when he sang as representative of Catalonia at the Olympic Games in Barcelona during the closing ceremonies. Peret died in Barcelona in 2014 from lung cancer, aged 79.