Concha Valdés Miranda, Cuban songwriter and performer, died Saturday at the age of 89 at Mercy Hospital in Miami, South Florida, after suffering cardiac arrest that forced her hospitalization
The habanera has been considered by some like the most daring composer of the contemporary bolero.
"His son called me yesterday at 10:30 am to give me the sad news of his death." Concha was very ill, had pneumonia, had a tracheotomy to feed her and was connected to a ventilator. I fell asleep, I can not stand it any more, "her friend Serra Lima (Argentine singer) said in an interview with Primera Hora from her residence in Miami.
Serra Lima joined a close friendship of 25 years with the singer. "She was my Cuban sister, an artist from the past, she was a complete artist, I visited her frequently, I loved her compositions, that's why I recorded several songs for her, as a person she admired her lucidity and memory. With his departure, is a great loss for the musical staff ", he maintained
The mortal remains of the composer of "Two thousand years" and "The one who loved you the most," will be cremated. At the moment details of the funerals are unknown.
Born in Havana in July 1928, after a period of teaching, this figure of Cuban music emigrated to the United States in the early 1960s, where she established her residency and her career as an interpreter and composer.
Among his many compositions is "El que más te quiero", performed by the Spaniard Dyango, who in addition to becoming his most recognizable success earned him a Grammy nomination.
Throughout his career, Valdés Miranda composed numerous songs that were performed by such figures as, among others, Celia Cruz, Olga Guillot, Sandro, Los Panchos, Gilberto Santa Rosa, María Marta Serra Lima, Elena Burke, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves , Tito Puente, John Secada, José Alberto "El Canario" and Cheo Feliciano.
In 2013 he joined the Hall of Fame of Latin Composers, presided over by musicians and producers Rudy Pérez and Desmond Child, in recognition of their contributions to Spanish-American music.
In one of her last interviews in 2013, Concha Valdés Miranda told us about her beginnings in music and her memories in Puerto Rico.
"In my house there was a piano and my delirium was to play it by ear because I never took classes, but I had that facility. I remember the first song I composed was 'Kiss me more', when my father heard her scold me, Blanca Rosa Gil was the first to sing it in Puerto Rico in 1970. It was a tremendous scandal because at that time no one could speak Of sexual matters ".
"... The most beautiful memories I keep are from my time in Puerto Rico, from 1970 to 1979. I love this beautiful island and the Puerto Ricans, because they are a very special race, loving and detached. I had the most that I wanted to be the Puerto Rican pianist, José Estévez 'Joe Loco', a great musician played with Tito Puentes, although he died, I always carry him in my mind, I'm resting now, because it's my time to rest. It's 85 years I have, "said Concha Valdés Miranda at the time.
