Colombian folk musician (b. Jan. 11, 1912, La Jagua del Pilar, Colom.—d. Oct. 30, 2005, Valledupar, Colom.), was the acknowledged king of the vallenato, a song form that originated in Zuleta’s native Caribbean coast region of Colombia and became wildly popular throughout the country in the mid-20th century. He began playing the accordion as a boy and soon was leading bands and composing satiric songs and improvising performances in the vallenato style. Zuleta’s fame began spreading to other Hispanic communities in the 1990s when international performers such as Julio Iglesias and Gloria Estefan began covering his material.
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