Today, 4 years have passed since the departure of our uncle Simon, the most famous musician, composer and performer of the popular Venezuelan genre. Known mostly for the rescue of the Tonada Llanera. His father was the teacher Juan and his mother Doña María, they had 8 children and Simón lived from small immersed in music where his father taught him the basics and in the typical life of the countryside. He began his career improvising songs and tunes that he listened to from local artists. His father played the cornet in the town band, and encouraged him to learn to play the cuatro and to write and sing boleros. At age 12 his father died and he had to help the family. At that time he dedicated a good part of his time to selling sweets, empanadas and other meals prepared by his mother to support his seven brothers.
When he was 20 years old he traveled to Caracas and enrolled in the Escuela Superior de Música. There he studied for six years under the direction of Vicente Emilio Sojo. Convinced that the tune of the Venezuelan plain is a musical air with unique characteristics, he devoted himself entirely to disseminating it, studying it and composing it until it became an authentic musical genre.
His passion for singing and acting takes him to theater, film and television, all designed to promote Venezuelan music, one of which he dedicated to the teaching of popular culture only for children. This program was 10 years in the air, and from this experience Simón Díaz was renamed "Tío Simón", a name with which he is affectionately known. Díaz recorded his first album as a singer and composer in 1963 and since then he has recorded many others, in his record he has more than 70 musical productions. He maintained the conduction of a daily program for the radio for 25 years, also dedicated to Venezuelan folklore and music.
There are innumerable artistic performances that he has made throughout his career. Likewise, leading directors and composers of academic music have taken the tunes of Simón Díaz to the language of the symphony orchestra and choral arrangements, thus sealing the universal character of this musical genre. "Caballo Viejo" is one of the most famous Venezuelan songs in the world, has 350 versions, has been translated into 12 languages and has been sung by world-renowned vocalists.
He received the most important prizes that his country grants in musical matters. It was distinguished with the highest decoration awarded by the Venezuelan state, that is, the "Order of the Liberator in its Order of Great Cord", becoming the only national artist to whom this distinction has been imposed. Represented Venezuela in France, England, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Iraq, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Cuba and Colombia.
He died at 85 years of age, at home, after suffering for several years Alzheimer's, a disease that progressively deteriorated the health of the beloved "Old Horse".