An account of the personal and artistic life of the Spanish singer Peret (1935-2014), the artist who imaginatively mixed various musical styles, such as mambo, tanguillo and rock, to create the gypsy rumba. An epic adventure, from a humble neighborhood of Barcelona to the biggest stages of the world.
Joan Ximénez el Petitet is a Catalan gypsy who pursues a dream. A former musician now —a percussionist, son of Ramón el Huesos who worked with the mythical singer Peret—, and affected by a rare chronic disease, he wants to accomplish the promise he made to his mother before she died: to celebrate a rumba concert on the stage of the Liceu, a great theater in Barcelona, along with a big symphony orchestra.
Pedro Pubill Calaf, better known as Peret, was a Spanish Romani singer, guitar player, composer and actor, called the King of Catalan Rumba. Known for his 1971 single “Borriquito,” Peret represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song “Canta y sé feliz.” In 1982, Peret withdrew from the music industry, joining the Iglesia Evangélica de Filadelfia, a large religious community of the Spanish gypsies, devoting himself in the following years exclusively to preaching and other religious activities. After leaving the church in 1991, he resumed his music activity and recorded new albums. In 1992, he sang at the Barcelona Olympic Games during the closing ceremonies. Peret died in Barcelona in 2014 from lung cancer, aged 79.
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