Bolero
Bolero is a slow, romantic song style that began in Cuba in the late 1800s and spread across Latin America, with lyrics about love and longing.
Singers are backed by guitars, often in trios with close vocal harmony and a small lead guitar called the requinto, or by a full orchestra. It grew out of the trova tradition of Santiago de Cuba and reached Mexico and Puerto Rico in the early 20th century, where radio helped it spread. It shares only a name with the older Spanish bolero dance, and its slow, steady pulse separates it from faster dance styles such as son and salsa.
Artists it is known for: Trío Los Panchos, Agustín Lara, Lucho Gatica, Armando Manzanero.
- Family
- Latin
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- Santiago de Cuba, late 19th century
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 2%
About 1,900 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have bolero among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Bolero artists
Luis Miguel
José José
Juan Gabriel
Natalia Lafourcade
Vicente Fernández
Julio Iglesias
Alejandro Fernández
Macha Y El Bloque Depresivo
Lisa Ono
Buena Vista Social Club
The bolero artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.