The Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés died this Tuesday in Madrid at the age of 77, they confirmed to 14ymedio sources close to the artist. The musician had been hospitalized for several weeks with an inflammation of the gallbladder and a kidney infection, which forced him to cancel several concerts.
Milanés suffered from a type of cancer –myelodysplastic syndrome– that decreased his immune response and for the treatment of which he moved to Spain five years ago. asked by 14ymedio Regarding his medical condition, a family source stated that he was “stable” and that an improvement was expected, although his medical situation was delicate.
Pablo Milanés was born in Bayamo, in the former province of Oriente, on February 24, 1943. He began early in the musical world as a singer on local radio, at the age of six.
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 composers classics.
He started early in the musical world as a singer on the local radio, at the age of six
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.
you my disappointmentcomposed in 1963, was their 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 lyrics are already recognized. That decade was 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– defines the musical band of the cinema of the time and, in a certain way, of the Cuban Revolution itself. Castro.
Milanés worked in the Group together with the most relevant musicians and critics of the time, such as Noel Nicola, Sergio Vitier, Eduardo Ramos, Leonardo Acosta, and also Silvio Rodríguez, Sara González and Amaury Pérez, also protagonists of the Nueva Trova movement.
The artist spoke out with indignation after the repression of the demonstrations of July 11, 2021
It’s the time you’re born Yolandaone of his most emblematic songs, and other songs like Who lends my hand as I pass, The ways and the disk Simple verses (1975), a musicalization of the poems of José Martí. By that time the Experimentation Group has already been dissolved and its members begin their solo careers.
It is presented in Europe and in countries of the Soviet block, as well as in Spain, Mexico and other Latin American nations and launches Dear pablo (1985), an album in which singer-songwriters such as Mercedes Sosa and Chico Buarque collaborate.
In a decade of political tension and the Soviet Union about to fall, the television program premieres propositions (1987) and organizes the famous tour i love this island, whose last concert anticipates the Special Period. In those following years he publishes the discs Identity, grandmother singing, origins Y Wake up.
Milanés was considered one of the most important Latin American artists and carried out numerous projects inside and outside the Island. His death occurred after several promotionals for his album light days.
“It is beautiful that we coincide in showing our demand for absolute freedoms through flowers”
The artist spoke with indignation after the repression of the demonstrations of July 11 of 2021. “I believe in young people, who with the help of all Cubans, should be and will be the engine of change,” he said then. In addition, he described as “irresponsible and absurd” the use of repression by the Cuban government against the people, “who have sacrificed and given everything for decades to sustain a regime that in the end what it does is imprison them.”
Milanés was also one of the artists who supported the Civic March for Change on November 15, 2021. “It is beautiful that we agree to show our demand for absolute freedoms through flowers,” he wrote in a message of support for the protests.
Their last concert in Havanain June 2022, it was 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 topics such as Years, The original sin, Loneliness, nostalgia Y Days of glory.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
