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Xavier Patricio Pérez Álvarez was born in Buenos Aires in 1951, from a Catalan family.
He was known artistically like Gato Pérez (Cat), established in Catalonia, emphasising especially in the rumba music genre.
He arrived to Barcelona in 1966 with his mother to unite with his father that had made the trip prior. He finished high school and established some time in London, with the objective to work in a record company but with no luck he returned to Barcelona.
In 1977 he started to experiment with Catalan rumba and subsequently published two first albums (
Carabruta and Romesco), that would follow the more commercial
Atalaya.
In 1981
Gato Pérez suffers from a heart attack, and starts to have grave health problems and fatigue produced from his cardiac problems, which obliges him to give up alcohol. Two more albums come out in the market:
Prohibido maltratar a los gatos (Prohibited to Kill Cats) and
Flaires de Barcelunya, this last one sung integrally in Catalan. His health problems did not abandon him until his death in 1990.
He passed away in Caldes de Montbui, in 1990. Through his death, his figure has been the object of numerous tributes.
Ventura Pons, counts with her collaboration for the soundtrack for the film 'La rubia del bar' (The Blonde from the Bar), made the documentary titled
El gran Gato (The Great Cat).