Fito Olivares

Fito Olivares, a native of Tamaulipas, Mexico, started out playing saxophone at the urging of his father. But the boy couldn't quench his desire to play accordion, and he took it up as a teen. Once he did, Olivares realized he needed to play drums, piano, and several other instruments -- so he learned those too. At age sixteen he joined the Dueto Estrella, and in 1979 he joined Tam y Tex, a group which included his brothers Jaime and Javier and brother-in-law Jacinto Treviño. In 1980 the group became Fito Olivares y su Grupo La Pura Sabrosura, and Olivares began to crossover into the Tejano market in the U.S. and charted steadily through the 1990s. A cumbia veteran and pioneering songwriter, Olivares remains a key player in Mexican regional music.