Madrid, April 4 (RHC)-- Singer-songwriter Luis Eduardo Aute, a leading light of modern Spanish song, died this Saturday at the age of 76 in a Madrid hospital, local media reported.

Aute was a multifaceted artist -- a painter, filmmaker, sculptor poet.  He had retired from the stage since he suffered a severe stroke in 2016, which kept him in a coma for two months.  After several stays in hospitals, including one in Havana, Luis Eduardo Aute remained at home in the care of his family.

The Spanish singer-songwriter was admitted to a hospital on Friday, where he died the next day.  His family hopes to perform funeral services in private, due to the health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.  

The author of songs like "Al Alba," "Flor de un día," "Cine, cine" and "La Belleza," was born in the Philippines in 1943 and 11 years later his family returned to Spain, where Aute developed his artistic career, with music being his best-known facet.

The singer had celebrated his half-century on stage with a massive concert in December 2015 in Mexico and with the publication of a collection of poems in which he reviewed his entire career under the title "Sixth Animal."

His beautifully poetic and politically-charged songs became popular during Spain's transition to democracy after the dark years of Francisco Franco's dictatorship.  He was part of a group of singers like Victor Manuel, Joan Manuel Serrat and Ana Belen, who managed to infuse their lyrics with a high degree of romanticism and political commitment to left-wing causes.  He also had a decades-long friendship with members of the Cuban "Nueva Trova" like Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes.