José Refugio "Cuco" Sánchez Saldaña (3 May 1921 – 5 October 2000) was a Mexican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.
Sánchez was one of Mexico's most popular singers and recorded most of his singles and studio albums for Columbia Records. He is also one of Mexico's most famous and prolific songwriters. His songs include "Anillo de compromiso", "Anoche estuve llorando", "Por qué peca esa mujer", "Fallaste, corazón", "La cama de piedra", "Siempre hace frÃÂo", "Arrieros somos", "No soy monedita de oro", "Del cielo cayó una rosa", "Cariño santo", "Nuestro gran amor", "GrÃÂtenme, piedras del campo", and "áQué manera de perder!".
He also acted in films and television series.
Sánchez was born in Altamira, a port city on the Gulf of Mexico, to José Refugio Sánchez and Felipa Saldaña Cabello. He began writing verses in his early years and later learned how to play the guitar. In 1937, at age 15, he wrote his first hit song, "Mi chata", which was recorded by the duet Las Serranitas. In the same year he began singing on the XEW radio station, where he eventually had his own program. Because of his young age and overnight success as a songwriter, he came to be known as El BenjamÃÂn de los Compositores (literally "The Benjamin of Songwriters", or "The Youngest of Songwriters").
Some of his early songs were "áQué rechulo es querer!", "ÃÂigame, compadre", and "Yo también soy mexicano".
His songs were performed, recorded, and made famous by himself and various recording artists, such as Pedro Infante, Miguel Aceves MejÃÂa, La Panchita, Amalia Mendoza, Verónica Loyo, Flor Silvestre, Antonio Aguilar, Dora MarÃÂa, Lucha Villa, Vikki Carr, Linda Ronstadt, Selena, and Chavela Vargas.
Sánchez was married to MarÃÂa Teresa de la Vega. He died of kidney failure on 5 October 2000 in Mexico City.