Mexican composer Agustín Lara (1897–1970) was widely appreciated not only in Mexico but also in Central and South America, Spain, in the United States, Italy and Japan. His most famous songs are Granada, Solamente Una Vez (You Belong to My Heart) and Piensa en mí, which have been recorded by numerous international singers, including Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza and José Carreras. Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. In 1928, he started working for the tenor Juan Arvizu as composer and accompanist. In September 1930, Lara began a successful radio career. His first tour, to Cuba in 1933, was a failure because of political turmoil on the island. Lara is author of more than 700 songs. He wrote most of them between 1930 and 1939, while touring around South America and performing often on national radio. He also began composing for film, and contributed much to a golden era of Mexican film. During the ’50s and early ’60s, Lara cemented his international star status by touring Europe to wide acclaim. By the beginning of the 1940s, Lara was well known in Spain. In 1965, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, gave him a house in Granada to show his appreciation of Lara’s songs with Spanish themes, such as Toledo, Cuerdas de mi Guitarra, Granada, Seville and Madrid.
In 1968, Lara’s health began to decline rapidly and he died in 1970. He was buried in Mexico City.