Aníbal Velásquez

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Aníbal Velásquez

| image = Aníbal Velásquez.jpg

| caption = Velásquez at Fusion Festival in 2011

| image_size =

| birth_name = Aníbal Velásquez Hurtado

| alias = "El Mago" (The Magician)

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|06|03}}

| birth_place = Barranquilla, Colombia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| origin =

| genre = Cumbia, Guaracha, Vallenato

| occupation = Composer, singer, accordionist

| years_active = 1952–present

| label =

}}

Aníbal Velásquez Hurtado (born June 3, 1936) is a Colombian singer, composer and musician, recognized for playing the accordion.{{cite web|url=http://www.elvallenato.com.co/2009/08/04/biografia-de-anibal-velasquez|title=Biografia de Anibal Velasquez|work=El Vallenato|date=August 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209065657/http://www.elvallenato.com.co/2009/08/04/biografia-de-anibal-velasquez|accessdate=September 8, 2020|archive-date=December 9, 2013|language=es}} He is also known by his nicknames "El Mago" ("The Magician"){{cite web|url=https://worldmusiccentral.org/2017/01/06/artist-profiles-anibal-velasquez/|title=Artist Profiles: Anibal Velasquez|publisher=worldmusiccentral.org|first=Angel|last=Romero|date=January 6, 2017|accessdate=September 8, 2020}} and "El Rey de la Guaracha" ("The King of the Guaracha").{{cite web|url=https://www.elheraldo.co/entretenimiento/comienza-hoy-en-telecaribe-la-serie-sobre-anibal-velasquez-482822|title=Comienza hoy en Telecaribe la serie sobre Aníbal Velásquez|work=El Heraldo|first=Sharon|last=Kalil|date=April 16, 2018|accessdate=September 8, 2020|language=es}}

==Biography==

Aníbal Velásquez was born in 1936 in Barranquilla, Colombia to parents José Antonio Velásquez and Belén Hurtado, and is the brother of the musician José "Cheíto" Velásquez. He is the father of Nelson Velásquez, former member of the vallenato group Los Inquietos del Vallenato.

He had his first hit ("La Gallina") in 1952 as part of the band Los Vallenatos del Magdalena with Carlos and Roberto Román and remained with the band until it disbanded due to Roberto's death. Later, he created his own group with his brothers Juan and José, and with them created a distinctive style of guaracha music with accordion at the beginning of the 1960s; it drew on both Caribbean and South American genres and influences.{{Cite news|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=April 3, 2010|title=The Mambo, the Combo, Post-Bop and a Presley|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/arts/music/02play.html|access-date=September 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}

Due to the local rise in cartel-associated violent crime, Velásquez moved to Caracas, Venezuela in the 1970s and resided there for 18 years before returning to Barranquilla.{{cite web|url=https://www.womex.com/virtual/fundacion_om_ong/anibal_velasquez|title=ANIBAL VELASQUEZ|publisher=Womex}}

In 2018 Telecaribe, a regional television network for the Caribbean region of Colombia, launched a bio-series as a living tribute to his career, called Aníbal 'Sensación' Velásquez. Over his six-decade-long career, it is estimated Velásquez has recorded over 300 albums and potentially over 500 singles.{{cite web|url=https://www.elespectador.com/entretenimiento/musica/anibal-velasquez-que-sensacion/|title=Aníbal Velásquez, ¡qué Sensación!|work=El Espectador|first=Jaime Andrés|last=Monsalve|date=April 11, 2018|accessdate=September 8, 2020|language=es}}

In 2019, Velásquez was reported to be seriously sick and was hospitalized in Barranquilla due to a severe lung infection.{{Cite web|date=August 3, 2019|title=Aníbal Velásquez se recupera en una clínica de Barranquilla|url=https://www.radionacional.co/noticia/anibal-velasquez/anibal-velasquez-se-recupera-una-clinica-de-barranquilla|access-date=September 8, 2020|website=Radio Nacional de Colombia|language=es}}