Acclaimed Cuban singer, songwriter and guitarist Pablo Milanes died early Tuesday in Spain, where he had been hospitalized for the past few days, his agent said. He was 79.
“It is with great pain and sadness that we inform you that the maestro Pablo Milanes passed away this morning, November 22nd in Madrid,” his agency said on the singer’s official Facebook page.
“May he rest in the love and peace he has always transcended. He will stay in our memories forever.”
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said on Twitter that “the culture in Cuba mourns the death” of Milanes.
The author of songs like “Yolanda” and “Breve Espacio” was hospitalized in Madrid, where he has lived since 2017, to receive medical treatment.
On November 11, his office said he was “stable” and being treated for a series of recurring infections that had affected his health in recent months.
The artist rose to prominence after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, gaining acclaim both on and off the island as he became the leader of the Nueva Trova movement alongside fellow Cuban musicians Silvio Rodriguez and Noel Nicola.
He has inspired and been influenced by artists across a wide range of musical genres in Latin America, as well as Spain, Portugal and Puerto Rico.
Born in the years after the revolution, Nueva Trova was ridiculed by Fidel Castro’s government for her lyrics expressing her professed political and social imperatives, including struggles against sexism, colonialism and racism.
Milanes had to cancel his final concerts in Spain and the Dominican Republic that were planned for this month.
He initially welcomed the Cuban Revolution but later distanced himself, although he never broke the tie that connected him to Cubans through his music.
In June, after a three-year absence, he traveled to Havana for the last time, where the artist, known in Cuba as “Pablito”, gave an emotional concert in front of around 10,000 fans.
After almost three years without performing in his home country, white with gray hair and mobility problems, Milanes had not lost the glow in his short-sighted eyes, his friendly smile and the power of his voice.
He was born on February 24, 1943 in Bayamo, eastern Cuba, to Angel Milanes, a soldier, and Conchita Arias, a seamstress.
Conchita moved to Havana with her family so her son could attend a renowned music school. During the 1950s, considered the golden decade of Cuban music, the boy learned to play the piano and collaborated with other artists.
He burst onto the Cuban music scene in the early 1960s with “Mis 22 anos” and won two Latin Grammys for Best Singer-Songwriter Album (2006) and Musical Excellence (2015).
