walking upstream…
Ricardo Montaner
Ricardo Montaner rode Argentina's Nueva Ola-adjacent pop scene into a decades-long career as one of Latin pop's defining balladeers, an Argentine-Venezuelan singer-songwriter whose soaring 1980s-90s hits like "La cima del cielo" and "Bésame" set the template for the maximalist Latin romantic ballad. He later became a genre patriarch by mentorship as much as catalog, producing and advising the careers of his children Mau, Ricky, and Evaluna Montaner, and by extension his son-in-law Camilo, whose every song he reviews before release.
the sound in question
1989
La Cima del CieloRicardo Montaner
walk the tributaries ↓
Palito Ortega1960s · Nueva ola / Latin pop / Balada romántica
Montaner has told Palito Ortega directly that the first songs he ever learned, at six or seven years old at a small venue his father took him to in Urundel, in northern Argentina, were Ortega's — and that watching him on El Club del Clan is very probably why he became an artist at all.
listen: upstream & heresource: A24 — Montaner's on-air confession to Palito Ortega about learning his songs as a child ↗
1965
La FelicidadPalito Ortega
La Gloria de DiosRicardo Montaner
listen forOrtega's cheerful, sing-along "La felicidad" and Montaner's "La gloria de Dios" share the same plainspoken, hymn-like simplicity — a directness built for a whole room singing along, not a listener parsing clever lines.
Sandro1970s · Rock and roll / Bolero / Balada romántica
Montaner has said he was a fan of "El Gitano" since childhood thanks to his mother, and has performed Sandro's own "Penumbras" onstage — the balladeer's dramatic, bolero-rock delivery is a direct antecedent for Montaner's own theatrical way of building and releasing a romantic vocal line.
listen: upstream & heresource: Infobae — Montaner performing Sandro's "Penumbras," a childhood favorite via his mother ↗
1969
Rosa RosaSandro
1992
BésameRicardo Montaner
listen forSandro's "Rosa, rosa" turns a simple declaration into a full-throated, dramatically paced performance; Montaner's "Bésame" does the same with a slow-build request for one kiss — both let the singer's delivery, more than the melody, carry the emotional weight.
Led Zeppelin1970s · Hard rock / Blues rock
Montaner has singled out Led Zeppelin as a formative listen, an unlikely credential for an artist who'd go on to define the soft Latin ballad — but it shows up in his fondness for a song that builds patiently toward one huge climactic peak rather than sitting at a single dynamic level throughout.
listen: upstream & heresource: Pudahuel — Montaner on Led Zeppelin and "Escalera al cielo" as a formative influence ↗
1971
Stairway to HeavenLed Zeppelin
Tan EnamoradosRicardo Montaner
listen forSet "Stairway to Heaven"'s long, escalating build against Montaner's "Tan enamorados," which starts hushed and unspools into a full-band, key-raised finish — both treat the slow climb to a peak as the whole point of the song.