Xavier Cugat

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Xavier Cugat was born in Gerona, Spain on January 1, 1900. Cugat's parents gave him the impressive name Francisco de Asis Javier Cugat Mingall de Cru y Deulofeo and moved with him to Cuba in 1905, where he was to become one of the pioneers of commercial Latin-American dance music and do much to popularize styles such as tango and cha-cha. His numerous hits included "Perfida" (1940) and "Babalu" (1944). He also appeared in many movies, among them "Weekend at the Waldorf" (1945). Cugat returned to Spain in the 70s and died in Barcelona in 1990.