 ibrahim ferrer (february 20, 1927 â august 6, 2005) was a popular afro-cuban singer and musician in cuba. he performed with many musical groups including the conjunto sorpresa, orquesta chepin-choven and afro-cuban all stars. later in life, ferrer became a member of the internationally successful buena vista social club. == life == ferrer was born at a dance in san luis, near the city of santiago de cuba. his mother died when he was 12, leaving him orphaned and forcing him to sing on the streets (busk) to earn money. the next year, ferrer joined his first ever musical groupâa duet with his cousinâcalled jovenes del son (). they performed at private functions and the two youths managed to scrape together enough money to live. over the next few years, ferrer would perform with many musical groups, including conjunto sorpresa and orquesta chepin-choven. the leader of the latter composed one of ferrer's biggest hits, el platanal de bartolo. ferrer was an adherent of the santerÃ­a faith, a blending of traditional african religions and catholicism.{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/04/entertainment/ca-43949|title=cuban serendipity|first=kenneth|last=turan|publisher=los angeles times|date=ju
1927_births 2005_deaths Buena_Vista_Social_Club Cuban_SanterAans Cuban_male_singers Cuban_musicians Cuban_people_of_African_descent Deaths_from_multiple_organ_failure Grammy_Award-winning_artists Latin_Grammy_Award_for_Best_New_Artist People_from_Santiago_de_Cuba_Province World_Circuit_(record_label)_artists