By Javier Cisneros
In the early hours of January 28, it was confirmed that Argentine singer Diego Verdaguer, had passed. He was in Los Angeles, California, and died “due to the consequences of covid-19,” a bulletin from his public relations office in Mexico announced.
The singer was diagnosed with covid-19 at the end of last year and had to be hospitalized. On the Twitter account of the interpreter of ‘Volveré,’ his family left a heartfelt farewell message with which they announced to his followers his unfortunate passing.
“With absolute sadness, I regret to inform all his audience and friends, that dad today left his beautiful body, to continue his path and creativity in another form of eternal life … my mother, I, and the whole family are immersed in this pain, so we appreciate your understanding in these difficult times.” -Familia Verdaguer Miguel-
For her part, his wife, singer Amanda Miguel, also dedicated a few words for Diego Verdaguer on her Twitter account.
‘I will never get tired of dedicating it to you! You are and will be the thief who stole my heart @amandamiguels’.
Who was Diego Verdaguer?
According to the biography on his official website, Diego was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 26, 1951. He is the son of Miguel Ángel Boccadoro Verdaguer and Elodia María Hernández Pérez. In 1966, he met singer Larry Moreno, who invited him to form the duet Reno y Rino and they recorded six songs for CBS.
At the age of 17, Diego recorded his first single as a solo artist, ‘Lejos del amor,’ released on the label RCA Victor. It was produced and composed by Larry Moreno, with musical arrangements by Jorge Lopez Ruiz, who had directed the greatest hits of Argentine singer Sandro de America.
The following year, he participated in the III Festival Buenos Aires de la Canción at the Luna Park Stadium, performing the song ‘Yo, solamente yo’ with the Spanish singer Dyango. The Argentine television channel El Trece hired him as an exclusive artist, where he participated in one of the most popular musical programs of the Argentine youth television, El Sótano Beat. Simultaneously, ‘Yo, Solamente yo’ was part of the compilation Sótano Beat which sold more than half a million records in Argentina.
In March 1970, he was selected to represent Argentina in the II Festival de la Canción Latina, at the Teatro Ferrocarrilero in Mexico City, where he participated along with other great international artists, such as Claudio Villa from Italy, Sergio Denis from Argentina, and José José from Mexico.
After ending his relationship with RCA Victor and El Trece, Larry Moreno came back to him to take him to the Festival de Canciones de la Ciudad de La Plata, where he sang and won first place. He was hired by the record company MH, which had catalogs of international artists such as Eagles, Rod Stewart, and others.
With the 1973 single ‘Yo te amo,’ Diego topped the Argentine radio charts for the first time. His musical director and producer, Roberto Montiel, introduced him to Rubén Lotes, with whom he composed more than seven singles that reached the top of the charts and sold more than two million records in Argentina.
Diego Verdaguer’s death is a great loss for the music industry, and it happened most unexpectedly; recently, in November 2021 he became the grandfather of Lucca, by his daughter Ana Victoria, whom he procreated with his eternal love, Amanda Miguel.
Photo from: @diegoverdaguer