“El Paso” is one of many Marty Robbins’ most beloved ballads. After the release of the hit song in 1959, it quickly climbed up the Billboard charts. “El Paso” reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in January 1960 and won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording in 1961. More than 3 Million copies of the album were sold in 5 years and put the once obscure name of El Paso on the international map. In October 1982, Robbins was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The city and the song writer shared a close friendship. Robbins was a regular performer in Nashville so he was presumably driving through El Paso when he composed the lyrics to “El Paso”. The dusty stretch of road where Rosa’s Cantina is located was once the mighty U.S. 80/85. At the time, Interstate 10 did not exist, U.S. 80/85 was the only East-West artery through town and it continued on to the bad-lands of New Mexico. A bar was opened post-prohibition in the early 1940’s under a different name. In 1957, ownership changed as well as the name, to “Rosa’s Cantina.” Some people would argue that city directories show another business located at 3454 Doniphan Drive until 1961. According to the owner at the time, business was done on a handshake and city documents were not legally changed to “Rosa’s Cantina” until 1961. It has been called Rosa’s Cantina since 1957. Some believe that Marty Robbins named the song after the Rosa’s Cantina here in El Paso, and others believe that this Rosa’s Cantina was named after the song. Either way, it is an undeniable fact that a powerful, unbreakable legendary bond exists between “Marty Robbins’ ” “Rosa’s Cantina” and our Rosa’s Cantina here in El Paso. This legendary bond can never be replaced, duplicated, or denied.