Legendary Mexican singer and composer, Armando Manzanero, has died after battling with COVID-19 for weeks. He was 85.
Manzanero was diagnosed with COVID-19 on December 17 and at one point was placed on a ventilator.
His manager Laura Blum confirmed that the singer died on Monday of complications from underlying kidney problem.
She added that the deceased will be cremated in Mexico City and his remains will be taken to his hometown of Merida, in Yucatan state.
While paying tribute to Manzanero, Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 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 singer, whose careers spanned seven decades, was best known for songs like Somos Novios, which, with translated English lyrics, became the 1970s hit It’s Impossible for Perry Como.
He was the president of the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers (Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México), before his death. 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.
He is survived by several ex-wives, seven children and 16 grandchildren.