Armando Manzanero.
Photo: Jennifer Lourie / FilmMagic
Armando Manzanero, one of the most influential and prolific composers in Latin America, died on December 28, according to CNN. He was 85 years old and was hospitalized earlier this month after testing positive for COVID-19. His family told the Mexican newspaper El Universal that he would be extubated in the next few days after his lung health improved, but he died of cardiac arrest. Manzanero wrote more than 600 songs in his life, according to the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers, of which he served as president until his death. His songs were performed by Latin music icons like Luis Miguel, along with singers like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick and Andrea Bocelli. He was an integral part of the Luis Miguel icon Romance series of albums, writing many of the songs and acting as music director on all projects. He also recorded his own music and won a Latin Grammy for the duet album Duets.
Manzanero’s impact on Latin music, especially in romantic “bolero” songs, was widely recognized during his lifetime. He received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2010 and the 2014 Grammys. Earlier this year, the Billboard Latin Music Awards honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award, with musicians like Luis Fonsi and Pablo Alborán presenting a medley of hits like Manzanero accompanied by the piano.
In a statement written in Spanish, the Society for Authors and Composers said: “The romantic soul of Mexico and the world is in mourning,” according to Advertising paneltranslation of. The Latin Recording Academy, which awards the Latin Grammy, called Manzanero’s death “an irreparable loss for the Latin music world”. And Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, spoke about Manzanero’s death during a news conference on CNN. “Armando Manzanero was a sensitive man, a man of the people. That’s why I regret your death, ”he said. “He was also a great composer.”