The
Cumbia started in
Colombia in the 1800s. In the 1940s Colombian singer
Luis Carlos Meyer Castandet emigrated to
Mexico where he worked with the Mexican orchestra director Rafael de Paz. In the 1950s he recorded what many people think was the
first Cumbia recorded outside of Colombia, "La Cumbia Cienaguera". He recorded other hits like "La historia". This is when Cumbia began to be popularized in Mexico.
In the 1970s Aniceto Molina also emigrated to Mexico, where he joined the group from Guerrero, La Luz Roja de San Marcos, and recorded many popular tropical cumbias like "El Gallo Mojado", "El Peluquero", and "La Mariscada". Also in the 1970s Rigo Tovar became very popular with his fusion of cumbia with ballad and rock.
Wikipedia