Mexico City, July 14 (IANS/EFE) Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian died in his hometown of Juliantla, after a long battle with cancer, Televisa reported. He was 64.
Sebastian, who had suffered from bone cancer since 1999, died on his ranch on Monday.
The singer, whose real name was Jose Manuel Figueroa, was born on April 8, 1951, and released his first disc in 1975.
His last work came out in 2013 and during his 40-year career, he recorded more than 50 albums.
The composer, popularly known as the "King of Jaripeo", the "Poet of Juliantla" and the "Hurricane of the South", turned out dozens of hits, notably "Juliantla", "Sembrador de Amor", "Secreto de Amor", and "25 Rosas".
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Joan Sebastian had six children from his first marriage with Teresa Gonzalez, and another from his marriage to actress Maribel Guardia.
The composer wrote more than 1,000 songs that were performed by numerous artists including Antonio Aguilar, Pepe Aguilar, Lucero, Lorenzo Antonio, Alberto Vazquez, Alicia Villarreal, Beatriz Adriana, Alejandro Fernandez, Jose Manuel Figueroa, Maribel Guardia, Diego Verdaguer, Rocio Durcal and Vicente Fernandez.
His vast musical output and his appeal on radio and television won him five Grammy Awards and seven Latin Grammys.
Besides being inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame, he took several Premios Lo Nuestro awards and put more than 50 discs on the market that were typically high on the charts.
At the beginning of the year, he stepped away from performing when his bone cancer came back worse than ever. He was admitted to a hospital in Puebla where he stayed several weeks in intensive care, and was released in April.
--IANS/EFE
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