Buena Vista social club singer Ferrer dies

HAVANA - Ibrahim Ferrer, the mild-mannered singer of the Buena Vista Social Club group, died on Saturday in Havana, a funeral parlour employee said. He was 78.

Ferrer went from shining shoes to world fame late in life. He died of a heart attack after returning to Cuba from a tour in Europe, fellow Cuban musicians said.

"He died this afternoon and will be buried on Monday," Rosa Ramirez of the Calzada funeral home said.

Ferrer, a bolero singer who was compared to Nat King Cole, was born in Santiago in eastern Cuba on February 20, 1927, and began singing professionally in 1941.

In the 1950s, he was an established singer who performed with well-known Cuban bands, including that of the legendary Benny More.

But Ferrer was a forgotten name by the mid-1990s, supplementing a meagre state pension by shining shoes.

He was lifted from obscurity by the 1997 Buena Vista Social Club recording brought together by Texas guitarist Ry Cooder that shot a group of vintage Cuban musicians to international fame and an unexpected second career.

The group's fame grew further with the 1999 film of the same name directed by Wim Wenders.

Following the success of his fellow singer, the late Compay Segundo, Ferrer launched a solo career and released records in 1999 and 2003.

During his latest tour in Europe, Ferrer sang a collection of boleros he planned to record next year.

- REUTERS