Horacio Palencia

Horacio Palencia stands out as a Grammy-winning songwriter and recording artist whose compositions have supplied numerous hits across the regional Mexican field.

Born and raised in Rosario, Sinaloa before he moved to Mazatlan, he developed a passion for music and mastered several instruments such as piano and guitar on his own, yet he pursued a degree in business administration during his student years with the aim of entering the tourism sector. At age 18 he began composing his earliest pieces. After friends urged him to present those works to fellow performers, an initial rejection from a figure he deeply respected nearly led him to abandon the effort, until an uncle stepped in and urged him to persist. He started attending festivals, parties, weddings, and concerts, where he offered to perform his material for potential interpreters.

Banda Santa Rosa de Guamúchil became the first act to cut two of his compositions, “Nuestro Ardiente Amor” and “Perdóname,” both of which achieved local success. Heartened by that response, Palencia maintained a constant presence in the Sinaloan circuit, routinely transporting his keyboard to live events so he could reach artists backstage and pitch songs directly.

Fernando Camacho, leader of the storied La Arrolladora Banda el Limón, selected Palencia’s “De Ti Exclusivo” for the group’s 2007 album Para Ti en Exclusivo; producers designated it the single. The track proved a major hit, earning SACM’s 2007 Como el Éxito award, Billboard’s Song of the Year honor in its category, and BMI’s Most Played Song award, while attaining gold status for La Arrolladora Banda el Limón—the first of many accolades Palencia would receive. From that point he found himself in high demand.

He went on to place more than 200 songs with acts that include Banda el Recodo, Los Huracanes del Norte, Banda Pequeños Musical, Banda MS, El Coyote y Su Banda Tierra Santa, La Original Banda el Limón, K-Paz de la Sierra, Germán Lizárraga, Trono de México, Pablo Montero, Fidel Rueda, and Lupillo Rivera. Among his honors are a Billboard Latin Grammy, Univision’s Premios Oye and Premios Lo Nuestro awards, and a Latino Monitor award, along with several others.

Palencia also turned his attention to scoring for film and television. His composition “Corazón Negro,” performed by Chavela Vargas, appeared on the soundtrack of Salvando al Soldado Pérez. La Arrolladora Banda el Limón delivered his “Niña de Mi Corazón” for the series Cuando Me Enamoro. His initial foray into Latin pop, “Tu Me Cambiaste la Vida,” written with José Luis and Raúl Ortega, featured in the telenovela La Fuerza del Destino in a recording by the duo Río Roma.

In 2011 he joined the Fonovisa roster and released his debut solo album, Mis Canciones... Ustedes y Yo, which yielded four singles that reached the Top 30 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Songs chart, among them “Que Pensabas?,” a Top 20 entry. He maintained a steady output of material for other artists as well as for screen projects, then issued his second album, Mi Romanticismo, in December 2013; it contained three charting singles: “Tu Ex-Novio,” “Olvidas,” and “El Amor Que Había Soñado.” The single “Ganas de Volver” appeared twice in 2017, first as an acoustic version in April and again in June with full band accompaniment. The video for the latter edition surpassed 100,000 YouTube views within its opening week, and both versions performed strongly on streaming charts.