Legendary Mexican composer Armando Manzanero died on Dec. 28, 2020 in Mexico City due to complications caused by COVID-19 at the age 85.

According to reports, he tested positive for the coronavirus on Dec. 17 and was intubated five days later. He spent almost a week in critical care before passing.

"With you I learned that there are new and better emotions. With you I learned to know a new world of illusions." 

There are perhaps no better words than those of his famous bolero to describe the weight and legacy that Manzanero left in Mexican and Latin American music. He was a prolific father of new emotional and musical sensibility, who spread his affection and technique across more than four hundred compositions — some are classics of the genre.

Manzanero was the author of iconic pieces such as "Somos novios," "Esta tarde vi llover," "Voy a apagar la luz," and "Adoro," which won him a Grammy in 2014. 

The recognition was spread thick across more than 30 albums from 1967 (Mi primera grabación) to 1996 (Nada personal), including his well-known album Duetos (2001). His lyrics also received many updated versions by the likes of Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Alejandro Fernández, Christina Aguilera, and Elvis Presley over the years.

Armando Manzanero Canché was born in 1935 in Mérida (Yucatán) and was son of one of the founding musicians of the Orquesta Típica Yucalpetén.

He began composing and recording his songs at an early age, and achieved international fame in the 1970s, when Elvis Presley released a version of "Somos novios" as "It's impossible."

Over the last 20 years, he has accumulated all kinds of awards for his lifetime of work as a composer but also a pianist, performer, and producer. Since 2011, he was the president of the Society of Authors and Composers of Mexico (SACM), and leaves behind seven children and 14 grandchildren.

Since the news was made public, the whole world has mourned his loss, especially in Mexico, where there were several tributes and several messages from the government, which included the words of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Institutions of all kinds expressed their condolences for an "indispensable" artist and many stars joined in, such as Alejandro Sanz, Pablo Alborán, Fito Paéz, and Raphael.

The sad reality is that his legacy — one of a musical legend and the soul of Mexican romanticism — is added to the catastrophic number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in Mexico. Since its appearance, the country is fourth in the world in terms of total deaths from COVID-19.