Pedro Suárez-Vértiz

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Pedro Suárez-Vértiz Alva (13 February 1969 – 28 December 2023) was a Peruvian singer-songwriter and guitarist.^[1] He founded the popular rock band Arena Hash with his brother Patricio, Arturo Pomar, and Christian Meier in 1987. A few years later, the band disbanded, and Suárez-Vértiz began his solo career.

Suárez-Vértiz was the winner of Orgullosamente Latino 2004 (Proudly Latin 2004) and was also awarded Best Latin Soloist of the Year in Mexico that same year.

Suárez-Vértiz was well known for his multitudinous concerts, his vocal rhythm, his extensive guitar collection, his abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, his philanthropy, and his personality. In 2020, Billboard magazine named his hit song "Los Globos Del Cielo" as number 14 on the list of The 25 Timeless Masterpieces of Rock in Spanish.^[2] His albums Póntelo en la lengua and Ponerme a Volar are among the best-selling albums in Perú.

Pedro Suárez-Vértiz was born in the Hospital Naval del Callao in Lima's Callao district because his mother and maternal grandfather belonged to the Marina de Guerra del Perú for many years. His younger brother, Patricio Suárez-Vértiz, is also a musician. They spent their childhood and adolescence in San Isidro, in front of the Olivar park, his favorite park.^[3]

Suárez-Vértiz was passionate about music since he was a small child. At age one, Pedro settled the ornaments of his house down like a xylophone and smacked them with a wand to get melodies out of them. Seeing his interest in music, his father bought him an old Celesta Dulcitone, Pedro's first musical instrument. Just a few years later, his parents would buy him a piano.

Suárez-Vértiz knew he wanted to be a singer when he saw the movie A Hard Day's Night for the first time, in which the famous English band The Beatles appeared.

Suárez-Vértiz learned to play the piano and the guitar before he began school. At 18, he attended the University of Lima, graduating with a degree in communications. In 1985 he formed his first band, "Paranoia", together with his brother Patricio Suárez-Vértiz and school friends Edward Málaga-Trillo, Arturo Pomar, Eduardo Quevedo, and Alex Kornhuber. In 1987, he formed the band Arena Hash with his brother Patricio, Arturo Pomar, and Christian Meier. A few years later the band broke up and Suárez-Vértiz began a solo career.

In 2007, he was diagnosed with dysarthria.

In 2011, Pedro started showing obvious signs of bad diction. He explained that it was the consequence of a muscle nerve disorder that developed with age, also he admitted suffering from chronic Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which made him look extremely distracted and tangled in speech. This significantly affected his ability to sing.

Suárez-Vértiz died from a heart attack in Lima, on 28 December 2023, at the age of 54.^[4] He is survived by his wife and 3 children.^[5] Waldemar Cerrón, member of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, submitted a motion to recognize the accomplishments of Suárez-Vértiz, with Cerrón noting that his music "contributes to maintaining cultural identity among Peruvian citizens living abroad."^[6]

• Arena Hash (1988)
• Ah, Ah, Ah... (1990)
• Del Archivo de... Arena Hash (1995)

• (No Existen) Técnicas para olvidar (1993)
• Póntelo en la lengua (1996)
• Degeneración Actual (1999)
• Anécdotas (2003)
• Play (2004)
• Talk Show (2006)
• Pedro Suárez-Vértiz (2007)
• Amazonas (2009)
• Amazonas Uncut (2010)
• Ponerme a Volar (2011)

• Official website
• http://scolas.skyrock.com/article_942487856.html
• http://bonnetmedia.com/_wsn/page9.html
• Pedro Suárez-Vértiz at IMDb
• Pedro Suárez-Vértiz discography at Discogs