He is a musician and singer born Hilario Ramos in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii. His father taught him the ukulele and he appeared in the Esther Williams film Pagan Love Song by the time he was seven.
When he was a teenager his family moved to Bell, California and when he was 13 years old he toured with Yul Brynner inThe King and I. His mother removed him from the tour after a year so he could concentrate on his education and after attending high school he majored in political science at Cerritos Collegel and East Los Angeles College.
He became a member of The New Christy Minstrels in 1962 and performed on their debut album Presenting The New Christie Minstrels that same year which later won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus in 1963. He met and married his wife while on tour and was present when his wife delivered twins but it was six months later before he saw them again. This caused him to leave the group in 1966 as he wanted to see his children grow up. After that he worked as a studio musician and back-up singer and released his solo single “It’ll Take a Little Time” in 1966.
He joined the group The Association in 1967 after being approached to replace the lead guitarist Jules Gary Alexander. After the bass player had injured his hand in an accident it was Jules Alexander that asked Ramos to perform lead guitar with only a few hours notice. From there he remained with the group until 1975 when he eft due to differences over the music but rejoined them in 1979 and stayed with them until his death, recording five studio albums and several singles.
He suffered a hear attack in 2011 and was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2013. In 2014 he gave his final performance with The Association. His role in the group was taken over by his brother Del Ramos.
He passed away in Clarkston, Washington in April 2014 when he was 72 years old.
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