Los del Fuego: meet the band representing Lanús in the South American final - News Room USA

A 2025 Copa Sudamericana final between Atlético-MG and Lanús-ARGthis Saturday (22/11), at 5pm (Brasília time), at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium, in Paraguay, there will be a package of musical attractions that start before the ball rolls and continue until halftime of the match.

Conmebol prepared a special opening to involve fans early on. On the Brazilian side, the highlight will be Atletico Eduardo Schecktel, known as Dudu Galo Doido. A fan icon and creator of the famous nickname Galo Doido, he was invited to sing during the pre-game and announced that he will also perform the Atlético-MG anthem at the official opening ceremony.

On the Argentine side, the band takes over the stage Those of Firea traditional “Argentinean tropical music” group, representing Lanús at the opening party.

Furthermore, for the first time in the history of the South American Championship, Conmebol will hold a halftime show during the final. The attraction is the Paraguayan band Kchiporros, one of the most popular groups in the country.

Back to talking about Those of Firea The band has a connection with Lanús because the team’s fans sing some songs in an adapted way. With such identification, in 2015, the group performed at the club’s centenary party.

Los del Fuego: history of the band

Those of Fire are one of the most emblematic bands of Santa Fe cumbia, which emerged in Argentina in 1984. Formed in the city of Santa Fé, the band gained prominence for its romantic style and its versions of national and international hits, consolidating itself as one of the most important names in the genre over more than three decades.

The creation of the band (1984)

The story begins in May 4, 1984when Juan Carlos Mascheronibetter known as “Banana”decides to found his own group. Before that, he had worked with Those of the Bohíorecording two albums (1982 and 1983). With the new project, Banana released his debut album “You have to fight to continue”accompanied by:

Julio “Momocho” Peralta (guitar)
Julio “Muerto” Peralta (baixo)
Sergio Ricardo “El Pato” Torres (timbal)

This formation marked the beginning of the group’s trajectory on the Santa Fes cumbia circuit.

Constant changes and consolidation (1985–1992)

The band faced its first member changes in 1985, when Momocho and Pato Torres left the group. To replace them, they entered the Morro brothers: Sergio (guitar) and Néstor (timbal). This formation lasted until 1987, when they released the album “Drink my pitcher”.

After 1987, there were new departures and returns of the original members. In 1989 Momocho left the band again, giving way to guitarist Sergio Alberto Morrowith whom they recorded the album “An overdose of love”.

From 1990 onwards, Banana needed to restructure the group once again, bringing:

With them, Los del Fuego launched “Ablaze” in 1991, and in 1992 more changes occurred with the entry of Carlos Nunez (guitar) and Adolfo “Chanchina” Pérez (low).

The Separation and Rebirth (1993–1994)

In 1993, after years of wear and tear, the group reached its worst moment and ended up disbanding. Each musician went in new directions, while Banana spent time working as a taxi driver in Santa Fe.

But the band’s story didn’t end there. In 1994, motivated by the passion for music and the legacy they had already built, Banana decided to get the band back togethercalling classic members such as:

This return marked the release of the commemorative album “10 years… An inexplicable passion”celebrating the first decade of Los del Fuego.

The following decades and the consecration

Throughout the 90s, 2000s and 2010s, Los del Fuego continued recording albums and performing countless shows throughout Argentina. The group surpassed the 25 albumsexploring romantic, dance themes and a wide variety of versions of famous songs.

His recognition led to appearances on highly rated programs such as Saturday Passionand to a show no Luna Park em 2012one of the greatest achievements of his career.

Versions and musical style

One of the band’s trademarks is the amount of covers that they have made over the years, adapting songs from completely different styles to the rhythm of Santa Fe cumbia. Among his most famous covers are:

“American Blind”, “Seduction Game” and “When the Tremor Passes” — Soda Stereo
“Surviving” and “Eyes of Heaven” — Víctor Heredia
“Distant pupils” — Los Pericos
“Shared lips” — Maná
Spanish versions of international hits such as “Spending My Time” (Roxette), “What Is Love?” (Haddaway), “Could You Be Loved” (Bob Marley) and “Get Lucky” (Daft Punk)

In 2011, they made a moving tribute to Leo Mattioliperforming “You will cry more than 10 times” next to the singer Karina.

The tragedy that marked the band (2019)

The hardest moment in the group’s history occurred on the night of May 17, 2019. During a private show in Avellaneda, the vocalist and founder Juan Carlos “Banana” Mascheroni suffered a fulminant heart attack. He was taken to Fiorito Hospital, but did not survive. Banana passed away in the early hours of Saturday, with just 58 years.

Shortly afterwards, the band released the digital album “Forever”bringing together the singer’s latest recordings.

Continuation after loss

Even after the death of their historic leader, Los del Fuego decided to move forward. The new vocalist chosen was Cristian Ramirezwho took on the mission of keeping the band’s legacy alive.

At the end of 2019 they released new songs, and in 2020 the album came out “Let’s continue…”whose title perfectly expressed the group’s intention to continue their story. The album includes the track “Creo en mí”.