The Eternal Bolero, Part 1: Love Songs that Endure for Decades

The bolero is one of the top song styles from Latin America, as ubiquitous as the tango, the mambo, or the bossa nova. Among the genres identified in the Frontera Collection,  the romantic bolero ranks No. 2, currently with more than 17,500 entries. That includes more than 70 sub-genres, such as bolero ranchero, bolero mambo, bolero rítmico, and criolla bolero, an outdated style featured on just three 78-rpm recordings.

            Most people in the U.S., regardless of cultural background, have heard a bolero at some point, even if they can’t specifically identify a song as such. Some boleros have become major hits with English lyrics.

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