Moneda Dura

In the late 1990s, Havana university students Hugo Fernández, handling vocals and bass, and Nassiry Lugo, on vocals and guitar, launched the Cuban pop/rock outfit Moneda Dura. Percussionist Miguel Alejandro Atencio, guitarist Addiel Perera, and drummer Osmel Prado later completed the lineup. The band’s debut album, Cuando Duerme la Habana, soon followed and spotlighted the hit single “La Buena Onda.” Merging Afro-Cuban rhythms with rock, Moneda Dura resurfaced in 2000 via Mucho Cuida'o, sending “Lola” onto the charts in Cuba, Spain, and Mexico.