23 years after the death of Alberto Castillo, the doctor who made tango dance

Alberto Castillo, born in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Floresta, was much more than a popular idol. His slum voice, his distinctive style of singing, and his way of "singing with mischief" shaped generations. However, behind the singer, there was also a gynecologist, a graduate of the University of La Plata. This duality accompanied him throughout his life, until fame won out over the practice.

He was the youngest of five siblings, the son of Italian immigrants. From a young age, he showed a musical inclination. Although he studied violin, his passion was singing. At 15, he was discovered by guitarist Armando Neira and from then on began singing in bands under various pseudonyms. His family didn't know he was already performing on radio and on stage. Fulfilling the family mandate to become a doctor was his priority.

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Alberto Castillo, the singer who marked an era with his unmistakable style and passion for tango.

In 1938, he temporarily stepped away from music to focus on medicine. However, a year before graduating, he returned to singing, this time with Ricardo Tanturi's Orquesta Típica Los Indios. In 1941, he recorded his first album and definitively adopted the stage name that would later establish him: Alberto Castillo.

Although he graduated as a doctor in 1942 and opened his own practice, his success on radio and stage was overwhelming. "I realized that women didn't come to see Dr. De Lucca. They came to see Castillo," he later confessed, explaining why he left medicine.

Uruguay al Día recalls how his style was questioned by military governments who considered his voice "too slum-like." This censorship didn't stop him. On the contrary, it reaffirmed his artistic calling. At the same time, he incorporated candombes such as "Charol" and the popular "Siga el baile," which he revived decades later with Los Auténticos Decadentes.

On a personal level, he married Ofelia Oneto in 1945, with whom he had three children: Alberto Jorge, Viviana Ofelia, and Gustavo Alberto. He wrote dozens of lyrics and also acted in films. His legacy includes titles such as "Así canta Buenos Aires," "Un regalo del cielo," and "Yo soy de la vieja ola."

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Alberto Castillo, the singer who marked an era with his unmistakable style and passion for tango.

He died in 2002, at the age of 87, after suffering from pneumonia. His image lives on in tango and in popular memory. As he himself said: "Tango is folklore made of cement. If you take an X-ray of a porteño, you'll see that he's a tango fan until death."

On every stage, Castillo achieved something unique: he made the audience respond to his gestures, his pauses, his intonations. “People moved according to the inflections of my voice,” he often said. And that power, that connection, made him unforgettable.

Uruguay al Día commemorates one of the great artists of the Río de la Plata, who not only took tango to the top, but also demonstrated that one can live with passion for two vocations: healing and singing.