Peru

Peru is known for three great traditions: música criolla, the romantic coastal waltz style built around guitar and cajón; Afro-Peruvian music, revived by artists like Susana Baca and Eva Ayllón; and chicha, the psychedelic Peruvian cumbia. The country also produced the globally famous soprano Yma Sumac and one of Latin America's earliest garage rock scenes.

Chicha is Peruvian psychedelic cumbia, which emerged in the 1960s when coastal and Amazonian bands blended Colombian cumbia with surf-guitar, Andean huayno melodies, and Cuban son. Groups like Los Destellos, Los Mirlos, and Juaneco y su Combo made it the soundtrack of Andean migration to the cities, and its hypnotic guitar sound later found a devoted global following.

The cajón is a wooden box drum that the player sits on and strikes with the hands, and it was created by enslaved Africans in coastal Peru. It is the heartbeat of Afro-Peruvian music and has since been adopted worldwide, most notably in flamenco. In 2001 Peru officially declared it part of the national cultural heritage.

Internationally, the coloratura soprano Yma Sumac remains Peru's most globally famous voice, celebrated for her extraordinary range. Within Peru, Chabuca Granda is revered as the queen of música criolla, and Susana Baca won two Latin Grammys and served as Peru's Minister of Culture. Eva Ayllón is among the most beloved living Afro-Peruvian singers.

Most Peruvian popular music is sung in Spanish, but Quechua, the main Indigenous Andean language, is central to huayno and highland traditions. Bands like Uchpa perform blues and rock in Quechua, and the language appears in music across the Andes. Aymara and Amazonian languages also feature in regional styles.