Mariachi associated with the group died in 1985. That the group still considers itself the original group comes from the notion of passing on the music by generations of musicians, how the original son jaliscense was learned. The promotion of mariachi as representative of Mexico has led to the formation of mariachi groups in many countries such as Argentina, Aruba, Egypt, Chile, Cuba, Spain, Croatia, Guatemala, Uruguay, Sweden, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, with groups from these and more countries participating in Guadalajara’s International Mariachi and Charreria Conference. The music has a strong following in the US, with top groups
Mariachi de Tecalitlán from his father in 1958 and soon after hired a trained musician, Rubín Fuentes, as musical director. Fuentes along with Vargas were instrumental in the standardization of much of mariachi music, arranging traditional songs and writing new ones that would be performed by many of the legendary performers of the mid-20th century, such as Pedro Infante, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Lola Beltrán and José Alfredo Jiménez. Mariachi Vargas still remains, tracing its history in terms of generations, starting in the 1890s, with these generations maintaining the group’s authenticity as a Mariachi while the music has evolved. The last Vargas