MIAMI, United States. – The emblematic Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés, one of the founders of Nueva Trova, passed away this Tuesday, November 22 (Spain time) at the age of 79, as confirmed on social networks by the artists Luis Alberto García, Carlos Varela, Juan Vilar and Wendy Guerra, as well as the independent media The sneeze.
Milanés was admitted to a hospital in Madrid due to “the effects of a series of recurring infections,” his official Facebook page reported in a statement.
The author of emblematic songs such as “Yolanda” and “Para vivir” was being treated for an oncohematological disease that he suffered, which forced him to suspend concerts scheduled for the next few weeks.
“May he rest in the love and peace that he has always transmitted. It will remain forever in our memory,” the statement ended.
The prestigious Cuban musician singing for the last time on the Island last June, in a concert marked by the presence of State Security agents.
Pablo Milanés not only transcends through the lyrics of his songs and his captivating timbre: he has had the courage to criticize the so-called revolutionary process led by Fidel Castro, to whom he fervently sang for several decades.
Milanés was born in Bayamo, Granma, on February 24, 1943. He studied music at the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. In his early days he was greatly influenced by traditional Cuban music and by the feeling.
In 1964, he joined the Los Bucaneros quartet as an interpreter, with whom he collaborated on his first works. In 1965, she published my 22 yearsconsidered by many to be the link between the feeling and the Nueva Trova Cubana.
Around 1966, Milanés was sent by the island’s regime to the Military Production Aid Units (UMAP) in the Camagüey area. After fleeing to Havana to denounce the injustices committed in what he called “a Stalinist concentration camp” in 2015, he was imprisoned for two months in La Cabaña and then sent to a punishment camp, where he remained until the dissolution of the UMAP. , at the end of 1967.
In 1968, he offered his first concert with Silvio Rodríguez at the Casa de las Américas. This would be the first sample of what would later, in 1972, emerge as the Nueva Trova musical movement.
Milanés belonged to the ICAIC Sound Experimentation Group and composed numerous themes for the cinema.
Among his most popular songs are “Yo no te pido”, “Los años mozos”, “Cuba va”, “Yolanda”, “Don’t ask me”, “Pobre del cantor”, “Para vivir”, “Hombre que vas growing up”, “I will step on the streets again” and “The brief space in which you are not”.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +525545038831, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
