Antonio Aguilar Barraza (17 May 1919 – 19 June 2007) was a Mexican
singer,
songwriter,
film actor,
film producer, and
screenwriter. During his career, he recorded over 150 albums, which sold 25 million copies, and participated in more than 120 films. He was given the honorific nickname "
El Charro de México" (The Horseman of Mexico) because he is credited with popularizing
la charrería, considered to have originated in Mexico, to international audiences. To this day he has been the only Hispanic artist to sell out the
Madison Square Garden of
New York City for six consecutive nights in 1997.