| La Mafia | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Alias: | 049408 |
| Origin: | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Years Active: | 1980–present |
| Label: | Urbana Records, Universal Music Latin Entertainment (2017-present) |
| Website: | http://www.lamafia.com |
| Current Members: | Oscar De La Rosa - Vocalist Armando (Mando) Lichtenberger Jr. - Accordion, keyboards and producer Rudy Martinez - Bass guitar Alan Lopez - Drums David Delagarza III - Keyboards & background vocals Victor Pacheco - Guitar Robbie Longoria - Bajo Sexto -percussions & congas |
| Past Members: | Leonardo Gonzales - guitar Robert Gonzales - guitar & bass guitar Marion Aquilina - guitar Israel (Speedy) Villanueva - bass guitar Adolf Alonso - bass guitar Tim Ruiz - bass guitar Jason Rodriguez - bass guitar Tony Rodriguez - drums Mario Gonzalez - drums Adam Mosqueda - drums Michael Aguilar - drums (1986-2004) Jesse Moreno - sax Jesse Peralez - sax Rick Patino - sax-trumpet David Flores - sax Joe Gonzales - drums Eduardo Torres - drums |
La Mafia is an American five-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas, and has charted a course as a Latin music band.
La Mafia was founded in 1980 in Houston, Texas. Vocalist Oscar De La Rosa & producer Armando Lichtenberger Jr. created an original style that survived various changes in the music industry. The band consists of Oscar De La Rosa on vocals, Armando Lichtenberger Jr. on Keyboard & Accordion, Rudy Martinez on bass, David De La Garza on keyboards and background vocals, Alan Lopez on drums, Victor Pacheco on Guitar and Robbie Longoria on bajo-sexto & percussion . In 2007 the band won 2 Grammys & 3 Latin Grammys and was nominated in 2009 for a Latin Grammy for the album Eternamente Romanticos. In 2020, the group won a Latin Grammy award for its 2019 album “Live in Mexico.”
La Mafia, seeking to expand their musical horizons, began touring extensively in Mexico and Latin America beginning in the late 1980s. The practice of Mexican-American artists performing in Mexico on a large scale was unheard of before La Mafia.
Since 1994, La Mafia has recorded each of its hits at its own Urbana Recording Studios, including the million-selling Estas Tocando Fuego and Ahora y Siempre. The band has recorded 35 albums and CDs, not including dozens of compilation and greatest hits releases.
La Mafia received Grammy Awards for its CDs Un Millón de Rosas (1997) and En Tus Manos (1998) and Latin Grammy Awards for its CDs Para El Pueblo(2005),Nuevamente(2006), and “Live in Mexico” (2020). It also has received eight Premio Lo Nuestro Awards and 12 Tejano Music Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the latter, numerous Billboard awards and was listed in the top 10 Billboard Latin Artists for the entire decade of the 1990s, ranking La Mafia as the most successful Latin artist Houston has ever produced.
La Mafia received the first Billboard Hot Latin Song of the Year (formally Hot Latin Track of the Year) in 1994 for their timeless hit "Me Estoy Enamorando."[1]