Armando Manzanero, ace Mexican singer, dies at 85

Armando Manzanero, ace Mexican singer and composer, has passed away at the age of 85, after battling with COVID-19 for weeks.

Manzanero had been hospitalized for weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 and at one point was placed on a ventilator.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Laura Blum, his manager, confirmed that he died on Monday at a Mexico City hospital of complications arising from an underlying kidney problem.

Blum disclosed that Manzanero will be cremated in Mexico City and his remains will be taken to his hometown of Merida, in Yucatan state.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexican president, during a press conference, expressed his condolences and described the late singer as a “man of the people.”

“Armando Manzanero was a sensitive man, a man of the people. That’s why I lament his death. He was also a great composer,” he said.

The late singer was widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America. It is believed that he has more than 600 songs to his name.

He received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. In 2014, he also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in the United States, becoming the first Mexican to receive the honor.

Until his demise, he was the president of the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers (Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México).

The renowned music composer is survived by several ex-wives, seven children and 16 grandchildren.