Pappo was born in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. He showed interest in blues and rock 'n' roll music starting at a young age, with his early influences being The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Freddie King, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and Manal. During the late 1960s and through the 1970s, he was a pivotal part of the Argentine rock scene. Pappo started playing as an occasional guitarist for Manal but soon joined Los Abuelos de la Nada and later Los Gatos, with whom he recorded two albums in 1969 and 1970. He formed his own band, Pappo's Blues, in 1970 and released its first album in 1971. The band was also part of the 1973 rock documentary Hasta que se ponga el sol, filmed during the third edition of the B.A. Rock festival. In the 1970s, Pappo's Blues saw constant line-up changes, with Pappo being the only permanent member of the band and main songwriter.

Between 1975 and 1980, Pappo lived alternately in England and Argentina. In the United Kingdom, he made contact with new genres such as punk rock and the new wave of British heavy metal. He formed the power trio Aeroblus in 1977 with ex-Manal bassist Alejandro Medina and Brazilian drummer Castello Jr. Pappo relocated to Argentina permanently in 1980 and formed the band Riff. In 1990, he appeared as a guest guitarist on Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo's album Mujer contra mujer.[5][6] He revived Pappo's Blues in the 1990s, alternating the activity of this group with eventual reunions of Riff. Pappo released a solo classic blues and hard rock album called Buscando un amor in 2003, which turned out to be his last record.

Pappo died in February 2005 in a motorcycle accident. Buenos Aires dedicated a monument in his honour.