MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolero legend Gatica passes away at age 90

Lucho Gatica was for some people “a South American Frank Sinatra”

Chilean-born bolero legend Lucho Gatica, died Tuesday in Mexico City at the age of 90 of undisclosed causes, his family confirmed. “Good trip, I love you ...” wrote his son, Mexican actor Luis Gatica, on social media.

Born Luis Enrique Gatica in Rancagua (Chile) on August 11, 1928, he moved to Santiago in 1945, where he enrolled in the Alonso de Ercilla Institute, but left his studies to devote himself to music.

In 1949, he managed his first professional recording, in which he sang alongside his brother.

During the 1950s he shifted from tango to bolero. In 1956 he toured several Latin American countries and a year later he moved to Mexico, where he settled for good.

“It was a challenge to sing boleros to Mexico, the home of the best boleristas, but I had a lot of faith in my work and I was successful,” said Gatica in a 1990 interview.

His fame crossed the border into the United States, where he could be seen socially at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gatherings attended by celebrities like Elvis Presley or Nat King Cole. Gatica himself has a star with his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2008.

The last of his 13 studio albums came out in 2013: Historia de un amor (Story of a Love), featuring duets with Miguel Bosé, Michael Bublé and Laura Pausini.