MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican singer and songwriter Jose Jose, who was a musical icon across Latin America for more than half a century, died on Saturday at age 71, local media reported.
Mexican broadcaster Televisa reported the singer died in Miami on Saturday after complications following a treatment for pancreatic cancer. He had gone public with his cancer diagnosis in 2017.
Jose Jose, whose real name is Jose Romulo Sosa Ortiz, became known for his powerful, romantic ballads, including “The World” and “My Life,” and received several Grammy nominations. He was also an occasional actor.
“The Prince of Song,” as the Mexican was affectionately called by his fans, was born into a family of musicians and raised in Mexico City. In his early teens, he started playing guitar and singing serenades.
Many of his works inspired a younger generation of artists and musicians, including Latin pop star Julio Iglesias, who interpreted Jose Jose’s first big hit “The Ship of Oblivion.”
His son Jose Joel, who is also a musician, changed his profile picture on Twitter to a black ribbon.
“It is sad, his passing,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told journalists after hearing the news ahead of a speech he was due to give in the northern state of Chihuahua.
Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Adriana Barrera Espinosa; Editing by Leslie Adler
