Flamenco 'guitar hero' Paco de Lucía dies aged 66 from massive heart attack
Thursday, February 27, 2014 @ 11:01 AM
ICONIC flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía has died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 66 on a beach in Playa del Carmen, eastern México whilst playing football with his grandsons.
Paco, who owns a house in nearby Tulúm where he now lives for most of the year, is said to have complained of serious chest pains and feeling unwell.
He took himself to a private hospital on foot, but died shortly after arrival.
Born with the unremarkable name of Francisco Sánchez Gómez in Algeciras (Cádiz province) in December 1947 and having been playing music since the age of seven, by the end of his tragically-short life, Paco de Lucía was anything but the boy next door – he had conquered two generations of jazz, pop and mostly flamenco fans who are publicly mourning his death in their hundreds of thousands.
Twitter tributes have included his close friend, pop singer Alejandro Sanz, and singers Mónica Naranjo and Pastora Soler, the latter of whom came 10th in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest for Spain.
Son of poor street-vendor and busker Antonio Sánchez Pecino and Portuguese housewife Luzía Gonçalves Gomes, he recorded his first album in 1962 and is regarded as one of the great masters of flamenco music in Spain.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com