Guillermo de Jesús Buitrago Henríquez (April 1, 1920), simply known as Guillermo Buitrago, was one of the most successful vallenato songwriters in his native Colombia. In fact, songs like “Víspera de Año Nuevo,” “Grito Vagabundo,” and “Ron de Vinola” have become Christmas classics in their own right. Born in the town of Ciénaga, he got his start in music at the age of 18, playing guitar on the children’s program La Hora Infantil. He then went on to become a renowned jingle composer, writing songs for some of the most popular brands in Colombia. Guillermo Buitrago eventually moved to the coastal city of Barranquilla and achieved recognition as a radio performer with his band Guillermo Buitrago y sus Muchachos, consisting of Ángel Fontanilla on guitar and Carlos “Stumpy” Rubio on guacharaca. By 1947, his career had taken off with a handful of releases for Discos Fuente that attained both local and international recognition. However, his meteoric rise to stardom would be cut short by an unknown illness that claimed his life on April 19, 1949.
