Pablo Milanés, Cuban singer-songwriter, died at the age of 79 in Madrid, Spain, after several days in hospital; according to various media reports.
On November 12, the artist’s networks reported on his hospitalization in Madriddue to “the effects of a series of recurrent infections that in the last three months have been affecting his state of health”, read a statement specifying that it was a “secondary” clinical situation to the oncohematological disease who had suffered for several years and required him to settle in Madrid at the end of 2017 to receive treatment.
Precisely his health problems forced him to cancel his presentations in Mexico City and Santo Domingo, on November 30 and December 5, respectively.
The Cubadebate portal quoted the artistic office of the singer to announce the death: “With great pain and sadness, we regret to inform you that the teacher Pablo Milanés has passed away is early morning of November 22 (still Monday 21 in Mérida) in Madrid. We are deeply grateful for all the expressions of affection and support, to all his family and friends, in these very difficult times ”.
“May he rest in the love and peace that he has always transmitted. It will remain forever in our memory,” she concluded.
What did Pablo Milanés die of?
According to information from 14yMedio, Palo Milanés suffered from a type of cancer –myelodysplastic syndrome– that lowered your immune response. Just a few days ago, a relative confirmed to the aforementioned medium that the singer was stable in the hospital where he was treated.
The family has not yet issued a statement on the death.
Who was Pablo Milanes?
Born in Bayamo, Cuba; on February 24, 1943, Pablo Milanes He started early in the musical world as a singer on the local radio, at six years old.
His family settled in Havana a short time later, which allowed the young man to relate to the sound environment of the capital, in full swing of filin and traditional music, although he was also influenced by American and Brazilian rhythms and by classical composers.
In 1956 he participated in the television program “Rising Stars”, which made it known to a larger audience. And, in the following decade –marked by the triumph of the Revolution, in 1959– he worked in vocal groups such as Los Armónicos and the Sensation group, and frequented nightclubs such as “El Gato Tuerto” and “Saint John”.
“Tú, mi desengaño”, composed in 1963, was his first song, followed by “My twenty-two years” (1965), where the most characteristic features of his work and the link between his melodies and the poetic language of the letters.
That decade is also marked by his political commitment to Castro, which did not prevent him from being sent – along with other artists, intellectuals, religious and homosexuals considered “undesirable” – to a Military Production Support Unit (Umap).
Starting in 1969, he collaborated with the Sound Experimentation Group of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, whose work – under the direction of Leo Brower – defined the musical band of the cinema of the time and, in a certain way, of the film industry itself. Castro Revolution.
His last concert in Havana, in June 2022was carried out under a strong police operation and its presentation was marked by the emotion of an audience that had not listened live for several years to the author of songs such as Years, Original Sin, Solitude, Nostalgia and Glory Days.
Pablo Milanes in Merida
Pablo Milanés appeared in Mérida on several occasions. On October 16, 2015, she performed at the opening day of the International Festival of Mayan Culture “Science in time, the landscape and the architecture of the Mayab”.
At his concert at the Big squarethe Cuban, dressed all in black, was greeted with applause at the time the event was scheduled to begin: 9 pm
The newspaper’s chronicle of that evening indicated that the ovation was barely in the background when the notes of “Propositions”, first theme of the night.
“Thank you. I am delighted to be here and it is an honor to share with you this tribute to the Mayan culture”, declared Milanés before interpreting “How much I won, how much I lost”.
From then on, young people and adults celebrated each song by the artist, who that same year, in February, had performed at the Armando Manzanero Theater.
He received resounding applause when he set Amado Nervo’s poem “En paz” to music, to continue with “Apocalipsis”, inspired by the prophecy of the end of the world.
The repertoire also included “The love of my life”, “Glory days”, “Prayer”, “Morning”, “Time is relentless”“Time goes by”, “Yolanda”, “The brief space” and “To live”.
No withdrawal in sight
In 2017, Milanés had celebrated his birthday by publishing a deluxe edition with the 50 albums from his discographyto which the artist hoped to add more titles, because “it does not mean that it stops here.”
“(Reaching 50 albums) is a goal achieved, but this does not mean that it stops here. Things are coming out all the time, life itself gives me spirituality, vigor and strength to continue working”, Milanés had declared on that occasion, who continued composing despite going into surgery “every six months”.
That same year, at a press conference in Mexico City to announce a concert, he admitted that reggaeton “seems disgusting to me, it has no musical, poetic, or orchestral value, or anything.”
“It seems to me that its value is null, and not only of that rhythm, but of the music that is being listened to because there is a lack of values.”
He considered that in popular music “superfluous values are being created that do not last long.”
“And the next day other supposed values are created that do not last at all and are worth nothing. For me, popular music has never had such a deep crisis as it does now in all senses”, he stated.
assured that he enjoyed life despite the health complications he had and notwithstanding the woes of the world, created as much by human beings as by nature.
“Life must be lived and enjoyed because it is a moment that death gives us and we must take advantage of it. Sabines, the great Mexican poet and friend, said that life is only a moment that death offers us.
Pablo Milanés dies at the age of 79: this is how he lived one of his last visits to Mérida