The ballad singer was diagnosed with coronavirus on December 17 and hospitalized at a Mexico City medical facility five days later. He was placed on a ventilator due to shortness of breath and died on Monday, December 28.

His manager, Laura Blum, said his death was caused by complications from a kidney problem. Blum disclosed that Manzanero will be cremated in Mexico City and his remains will be taken to his hometown of Merida, in Yucatan state.

Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, expressed his condolences and described the late singer as a “man of the people” during a press conference.

The singer, whose careers spanned seven decades, was a crooner best known for songs like ‘Somos Novios,’ which, with translated English lyrics, became the 1970s hit ‘It’s Impossible’ for Perry Como.

Manzanero, who was the president of the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers (Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México), 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 honour.

The renowned music composer is survived by seven children, and 16 grandchildren