Ortega was born to a very poor family in Lules, and had to work from a young age, selling newspapers in San Miguel de Tucumán, and finding a job at a store.

He used his work as a coffee seller to get into show business by setting up a coffee-selling spot near Buenos Aires' Channel Seven Public Television station.

Ortega also worked near Radio Belgrano, where many of the singers he met while selling coffee near the television station would recognize him and form a bond with the young star in the making.

[citation needed] Ortega's status as a teen idol declined during that period, and he reduced his television and movie appearances, as well as his album recordings.

The sharp devaluation of the peso following the collapse of Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's exchange rate timetable made his US dollar-denominated contractual obligations unaffordable, however.

Ortega reportedly lost one million dollars after paying the legendary crooner for his Luna Park Stadium show, and was forced to sell a significant portion of his estate.

Ortega joined the likes of Iris Chacón, Charytín, Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias and others as a resident of the south Florida city.

Ortega sang the United States national anthem before the 1986 world middleweight championship boxing fight between Marvin Hagler and John Mugabi.