Mexican singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero, known as the king of romanticism, died this Monday of covid-19 after being intubated in a hospital for several days, confirmed the Secretary of Culture of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto. He was 85 years old.
“With great sorrow I mourn the death of the master Armando Manzanero, one of the greatest composers in Mexico, his songs are a definite part of the sentimental education of Mexicans,” announced in networks the Secretary of Culture of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto .
“Generous and smiling, always committed to the culture. Thank you so much,” the official added.
After hearing the news, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had a few words of appreciation for the artist and ended his morning press conference.
“I perceived like never before that Armando Manzanero was a man of the people, so I am very sorry for his death. A great composer, also a representative of authors and composers from Mexico,” said the president.
“We sent our family and friends, all the singer-songwriters, our condolences for this unfortunate loss to the art world and I no longer want to continue with this press conference and nothing else is over,” continued López Obrador, who had Manzanero’s song “Adoro” played to conclude the press conference.
The author of classics of Mexican romantic music, like “We’re Boyfriends,” “I’m Going to Turn Off the Light,” “I Learned With You,” “I Saw Rain This Afternoon,” and “No,” he was hospitalized last week in Mexico City after testing positive for covid -19 and intubated days later.
The last public appearance of Manzanero, president of the Society of Authors and Composers of Mexico, was last December 11 in Merida, capital of Yucatan, where he inaugurated the Casa Manzanero Museum.
Manzanero (Mérida, Yucatán, 1935) leaves behind an unforgettable legacy in the history of music in Spanish, countless albums sold and countless awards, such as the honorary Grammy Award in 2014.
Connoisseur of the bolero tradition and of great sensitivity, the composer connected with the audience with themes that have been versioned over the years by artists such as Elvis Presley, with “It’s impossible”, a English version of “We Are Boyfriends”, Dionne Warwick, Tony Bennett, Alejandro Fernández and Christina Aguilera.
In addition to being a pianist, performer and producer, the composer Manzanero was born in 1950 with “Never in the World” and has more than 400 songs.
He released more than 30 recordings, including “Som nuvis” (1968), Cor Salvatge (1977), “Nada personal” (1995) and “Duets”, which won him the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album by Group. the duo in 2001.
With 1.4 million infections and 122,000 deaths, Mexico is the fourth country in the world with the highest total number of pandemic deaths, behind the United States, Brazil and India.
His life
Manzanero is the author of classics of Mexican romantic music such as “We are boyfriends”, “I’m going to turn off the light”, “With you I learned”, “This afternoon I saw rain” and “No”, revealed a few weeks ago to Efe who felt happy to receive awards in life.
“I’m being rewarded for life,” said the composer a few weeks ago, who has among his children Martha Manzanero Arjona, Joan Pau Manzanero Blum, as well as Mainca and Rodrigo.
The so-called “King of Romanticism” a few months ago received the Billboard Award for his career.
Authorities in Mexico and Merida, the capital of Yucatan, premiered in his honor the “Route of Nostalgia” to share important scenarios in the artist’s life with national, local and international visitors.