The Ruffinos

Legendary Cuban / Mexican singing quartet consisting of husband and wife Ignacio and Mercedes Rufino, their daughter Julie and son Carlos. A recording sensation during the 1950s and 1960s, they acted and sang in several Mexican films written especially for them as "La familia Ruffino" (The Ruffino family). They were also featured as guest stars in other films singing their greatest hits. The Ruffino quartet was also a big draw in theaters, cabarets and night clubs all over the world combining their amazing harmonies with an elegant charismatic stage presence that was captivating and hard to resist. They were a natural act for television and appeared in countless variety shows. Before the quartet took the American continent by storm, both Mercedes and Ignacio had remarkable solo careers; he as a baritone in opera stages and recordings, she as an adventurous actress singer in 1940s Hollywood. Once the quartet took off they never looked back. Although their home base had become Mexico City, they traveled extensively throughout the American Continent, Europe and the Middle East and had long residencies in New York City and Havana, Cuba. After the arrival of the 1959 communist revolution, the Ruffino family never returned to Cuba eventually joining the Cuban exile community in Miami. In the 1970s the quartet disbanded when Ignacio died in1973 of complication due to diabetes, while Carlos decided to pursue other interests including a solo singing post at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. However Mercedes and Julie continued as a duo and carried the family tradition well into the 1980s. By then Julie had surprised the music industry becoming a successful songwriter whose songs were hits as recorded by her and by many internationally known artists. In 1983 "Mama Ruffino" received in Miami an emotional tribute to celebrate her fifty years in show business. The show featured a veritable who is who of the Latin entertainment scene coming together to honor the matriarch of the Ruffino clan in front of a SRO crowd. The event was topped by a congratulatory proclamation issued by the president of the United States of America Ronald Regan, an old friend of Mercedes from her Hollywood days. The Ruffino duo performed for the last time in 1984 at a farewell show held in Miami's famed Les Violins Night Club. In 1987 Julie Ruffino died of renal failure leaving behind a legacy of 589 songs and dozens of poems. Two years later, in 1989, the beloved "Mama Ruffino" passed away due to diabetes just like her husband Ignacio. In spite of its disappearance, Cuarteto Ruffino lives on thanks to the unforgettable memories they left in the public of three continents and the continued reissue of their recordings. Certainly, their voices, harmonies and marvelous performing charisma will never die.