Guillot and her family moved to Ciudad Havana when she was a small child. As a teenager, she and her sister, Ana Luisa, performed as a duo, named the "Duo Hermanitas Guillot".
It wasn't until 1945 that her talent as a bolero singer would be discovered, when Facundo Rivero, an influential man in the Cuban music industry of the era, heard her sing for the first time, and helped her make her professional singing debut, at a famous Havana night club. Soon after, Guillot met Miguelito Valdes, who took her to New York city, where Guillot was able to record her first album, with the Decca label.
Guillot traveled to Mexico in 1948. There, she established herself as an international singer and actress, participating in various films and making her second album. In Mexico, Guillot began to enjoy much popularity for the first time in her career.
In 1954, she recorded her song "Mienteme" ("Lie to Me"), which became a hit across Latin America, and earned her three consecutive awards back home in Cuba as Cuba's best female singer.
1958 proved to be an important year for Guillot, as she toured Europe for the first time, including stops in Italy, France, Spain and Germany. She sang alongside the equally legendary Édith Piaf during a concert held in Cannes.
Olga Guillot kept a house in Cuba as she traveled around the world with her music, apart from her house in Mexico. But Guillot opposed Fidel Castro's Government, and, in 1961, she decided to leave Cuba for good and establish herself in Venezuela. Not long after that, she left Venezuela, making Mexico her only permanent residence country.
Meanwhile, she kept touring around the world, singing in places such as Israel, Japan, Hong Kong and many others. In 1963, Guillot was given the Golden Palm award as "best bolero singer of Latin America". She received the award in Hollywood, California. Guillot sang in 1964 at New York's famed Carnegie Hall.
Guillot continued on touring for the next forty years, releasing over fifty albums and winning numerous awards for her activity in the music world. She was very good friends with Celia Cruz, to whom she often referred to as "(her) sister". When Cruz died from cancer, Guillot was one of the most affected persons in the show business world.
Her albums and music are prohibited in Cuba. Guillot remained a quiet, but strong critic of Castro and his policies towards Cuban residents.
Guillot lived mainly in Mexico and had another home on Miami Beach, Florida.
On July 12, 2010, she died of an infarction at the age of 87 in the city of Miami Beach. She is survived by one daughter, Olga Maria Touzet-Guillot, born from her relationship with pianist and composer, René Touzet.
Vivir de los recuerdos
Olga Guillot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
y que te devo olvidar y mas te quiero
vivir recondando el ayer
es renacer tu precensia en mi ser
vivir añorando tu amor
es vivir de recuerdos de ti
se que no puedes volver y aun te espero
se que un amor que se va es mejor olvidarlo
pero yo no te puedo arrancar del corazon
pero yo no te puedo arrancar del corazon(bis)
The lyrics of Olga Guillot's song "Vivir De Los Recuerdos" speak about the pain of holding onto memories of a loved one who is no longer present. The singer acknowledges that they need to forget this person and move on with their life, but despite this, they still wait for their return and continue to love them more each day. The act of living in recollection of the past is described as a way of keeping the presence of their beloved alive within them, and the pain of longing for their love is seen as a necessary cost.
The song highlights the complex feelings and conflicts that arise from loving someone who is no longer physically present. The singer is torn between the desire to forget and move on, and the inability to let go of their memories and feelings. The repetitive phrase "se que no puedes volver y aun te espero" captures this sense of longing and waiting, while the refrain "vivir de recuerdos de ti" speaks to the fact that memories can be both a source of comfort and pain.
Overall, "Vivir De Los Recuerdos" is a poignant expression of the power of memories to shape our lives, and the difficulty of letting go of someone we love. It is a beautiful and emotional song that speaks to universal themes of loss, love, and the human capacity to hold onto the past.
Line by Line Meaning
se que no puedes volver y aun te espero
I know that you cannot return, yet I still wait for you.
y que te devo olvidar y mas te quiero
And although I must forget you, I love you even more.
vivir recondando el ayer
To live recalling the past.
es renacer tu precensia en mi ser
Is to relive your presence within me.
vivir añorando tu amor
To live yearning for your love.
es vivir de recuerdos de ti
Is to live on memories of you.
Writer(s): Bobby Collazo
Contributed by Ruby N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@SDJR87
Una cantante de antologia. La gran cubana y amante de la libertad, Olga Guillot. Que descanse en paz.
@rufinoortega8517
Fue la mas grande bolerista de America
@smara7857
Esta canción me va a matar desde que la conocí me posee un espíritu de no se que que me compone y me descompone..... haaaaaaay Dioooooos!
Y como decía Olga: ¡ me muero , me Muerooooo!!!!!
@danilosotojr8
La Gran Olga guillot! Unica grande fuistes,grande seras por una eternidad! Inimitable!!
@carloselosua3021
UNA TREMENDA CANCION INTERPRETADA POR LA REINA DEL BOLERO, LA GRAN OLGA GUILLOT.
@danilosotojr8
La musica de mis viejos , que por suerte es mi musica hoy! Gracias por subir esta joya !! OLGA es del mundo. El bolero se vestia de gala en su voz ! INCOMPARABLE,UNICA.👏 ETERNA! !! !!!
@enriquegutierrez4959
Encuentro que no han hecho ningún tipo de comentarios por esta canción en la voz de Olga Guillot. Muchos, equivocadamente, piensan que ´´miénteme´´ fue la canción que hizo famosa a esta magnífica cantante. ´´Stormy Weather´´, primer disco grabado, fue el trampolín hacia el éxito. Ésta, en particular es una melodía poco escuchada, con la Orquesta Riverside, si no me equivoco, acompañandola con un arreglo de suma maestría. Olga Guillot tuvo muchos éxitos a través de su excitosa carrera como cantante, pero en mi humilde opinión, ésta, al igual que la canción ´´me callo las palabras´´, con arreglo insuperable fueron pilares en su vida como artista.
E. Gutiérrez, Hialeah, Florida, EE.UU.
@sheypanter
Excelente tu comentario
@smara7857
Enrique la escucho continuamente desde que la cono ci no la quito puedo pasar el día y la noche escuchandola