Biography:

Wilfrido Aníbal Quiroga , better known as Willy Quiroga ( Río Cuarto , Córdoba ; May 17, 1940 – Quilmes , Buenos Aires ; November 21, 2024), 1 was an Argentine musician and singer , resident in the Quilmes district , 2 where he was declared an Illustrious Citizen. 3 He was a founding member of the rock group Vox Dei .

Beginnings

Quiroga became interested in rock and roll in the late 1950s after seeing musicians such as Bill Haley & His Comets and Elvis Presley .

He spent his adolescence in Virreyes, near San Fernando. His beginnings in music were at the age of 18 when he formed his first group with a style similar to Los Fronterizos , then in the folk group Los Chúcaros at the beginning of the 1960s. In 1962 with the rise of Rock, he formed his first band called Los Out ; although they soon dissolved due to the continuous change of members.

With Vox Dei

In 1967 he met Rubén Basoalto , Ricardo Soulé and Juan Carlos Godoy and they formed the group Mach 4 , which still sang in English and followed an aesthetic similar to the Beatles but which later changed its name to Vox Dei . At the beginning of the band, Quiroga was the guitarist and Soulé the bassist, although they would later switch instruments between them. He is also the only member of Vox Dei who has participated in all of the group’s albums.

He is the author of classics such as Compulsion and Total what (from the album Caliente from 1970), Just a man from 1971, This night does not seem the same and Jeremías feet of lead – the latter written with Soulé (from the album Jeremías feet of lead from 1972), It’s a cloud, there’s no doubt and Crazy, make her shut up (from the album It’s a cloud, there’s no doubt from 1973), I will not let her live in me (from the album Gata de Noche from 1978).

In April 1981, he performed with Ricardo Soulé and Rubén Basoalto at the last Vox Dei recital at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium.

After the split of Vox Dei, he formed Destroyer with Juan Antonio Ferreyra and Polo Corbella . After only one show, the personnel changed and Luis Valenti ( El Reloj ) arrived on keyboards , Beto Topini on drums and Palo Penayo on guitar and vocals with whom they would record a single LP in 1982, edited by the Surco label. The group was part of the “Festival Pan Caliente” together with Los abuelos de la nada and Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota and then of the “Festival de la Falda” in 1982, although they did not achieve greater success.

He would later form Willy Quiroga y la Fuerza , where he changed his usual role of bassist to that of keyboardist, and also the Willy Quiroga Trío , where he would play with Rubén Basoalto.

In 1985, he reunited with Soulé and Basoalto to return to Vox Dei, and since then he continued playing with Vox Dei until 2017, when due to a lawsuit by Soulé he had to start presenting himself as Willy Quiroga Vox Dei .

Foray into cinema

In 2010 he participated in Diego Capusotto ‘s film Birds Flying , forming part of the soundtrack alongside Ciro Fogliatta , Héctor Starc and Rodolfo García ; and acting in a film that also included musicians Miguel Cantilo , Claudia Puyó and Miguel Zavaleta .

In 2021 he launched his new musical project Willy Quiroga Project formed by Raúl Gutta, Jonathan Burgos and Maximiliano Vaccaro, they are currently playing. His 83rd birthday was honored at the Alimme in 2023.

Retirement and Death

In August 2024, at the age of 84, he announced his definitive retirement from the stage due to COPD, which he had been suffering from for years and which made it difficult for him to continue singing. His last show was with Willy Quiroga Vox Dei on July 27 at the Mr. Jones Pub in the town of Ramos Mejía, province of Buenos Aires.

On November 21, 2024, Willy’s death was announced through the artist’s social networks.

Credits:

Wikipedia