El Cuarteto de Nos

The group was started by Roberto Musso (vocals and guitars) and Ricardo "Riki" Musso (guitars and keyboards).

In 1984, El Cuarteto de Nos played their first show, an instrumental set in the "El Tinglado" theater.[1] They also played at the "La Máscara", "El Circular", "Teatro de la Alianza Francesa" theaters while developing their own musical style. Their first album was released, in collaboration with Alberto Wolf, who had six of the twelve songs; and drummer Álvaro Pintos joined the group afterward.

In 1985, they stepped on a stage, located in a fair from Villa Biarritz, dressed up with aluminum foil on their legs and balloons tied to their heads.[2]

In 1986, they edited their first LP, Soy una Arveja (I am a Pea).[1] The following year, band members dressed up as elderly women to promote the song "Soy una Vieja" (transl. "I am an Old Lady").[2] In 1988, their second album, Emilio García (by then, the fictional manager), was released.[2]

In 1991, the album Canciones del Corazón (Songs of the Heart) was released in cassette, and it was a great commercial success for the band.

In 1994, after four years of hiatus, they released their album Otra Navidad en las Trincheras (transl. "Another Christmas in the Trenches"), which achieved quadruple platinum status almost instantly, making them the first Uruguayan band ever to achieve it.[2] Mocking their success, they called their 1995 album Barranca abajo (transl. "Downhill").

In late 1996, El Cuarteto de Nos released their seventh album El Tren Bala (transl. "The Bullet Train"). This album was controversial in Uruguay, since one of its songs, "El día que Artigas se emborrachó" (transl. "The Day Artigas Got Drunk"), references José Gervasio Artigas, the founding father of Uruguay. Attempts were made to ban the song,[2][3][4] delaying the release of the album.[4] Because of the diversity of musical styles presented, the record was well received, and it became a gold record in a week.[4]

The popularity of the band started to decline in mid-1997 when they were working on their eighth studio album, Revista ¡¡Ésta!! (transl. "This one!! Magazine"), which was released in 1998 to lukewarm sales and reception, which extended to their 2000 decade opener Cortamambo (transl. "Killjoy"), an album that gained a cult following over the years. This album also resulted in Riki Musso leaving the group for most of 2001, due to issues he had with the album cover. In 2004, the band recorded their best songs from every album to date with a better, more consistent production achieved by Juan Campodónico. Two years later, they released Raro (transl. "Weird").

In 2004, they released El Cuarteto de Nos, a compilation album of their all-time hits played and recorded again, plus three new songs, called "Hay que comer" (transl. "We Have to Eat"), "No quiero ser normal" (transl. "I Don't Want to Be Normal") and "Fui yo" (transl. "It Was Me"), the album was made in a more rocker style and had a coherent production.

On May 27, 2009, while developing their album Bipolar, it was reported that Ricardo had creative and administrative differences with the course the band had taken. After his departure, two new musicians joined the band: guitarist Gustavo Antuña and keyboardist Santiago Marrero. The album was released in September 2009, and won five Graffiti Awards in June 2010.[5]

In 2012, the album Porfiado (transl. "Obstinate") won the band several Latin Grammy Awards in 2012. Two years later, they released Habla tu Espejo (transl. "Your Mirror is Talking"). A similar formula was repeated on the successful 2017 album Apocalipsis Zombi (transl. "Zombie Apocalypse"), and their last record to date, Jueves (transl. "Thursday"), released in 2019.