Pío Leyva
Cuban musician (1917-2006)
Pío Leiva (May 5, 1917 – March 22, 2006) was a Cuban singer and the author of the guaracha El Mentiroso ("The Liar"). Leyva was part of the Buena Vista Social Club, and composed some of Cuba's best known standards.
Biography
Leyva was born as Wilfredo Leiva Pascual in Morón, Cuba in 1917. He won a bongo contest at the age of six and made his singing debut in 1932. He recorded over 25 albums since he signed his first contract with RCA Victor in 1950. Leyva sang with other Cuban artists such as Benny Moré, Bebo Valdés and Noro Morales and was a member of Estrellas de Areito and "Compay Segundo y Sus Muchachos."[1]
Fellow musician Barbarito Torres said of Leyva: "Pio has always been a famous singer in Cuba. I've always admired him, not just for his talent, but because of his great personality. He's the inspiration."[2]
Leyva took part in the 2004 film Música Cubana, which was marketed as a sequel to Buena Vista Social Club.
Death
Leyva died of a heart attack, on March 22, 2006. He was 88 years old.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Pío Leyva” is cuban musician (1917-2006). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Leyva, Cuban and musician, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q535092. VIAF identifies the subject as 69129636. The Library of Congress control number is no98012751. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1917, 2006, 1932 and 1950.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pío Leyva” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.