Manolo del Valle, beloved Cuban bolero voice of the Original de Manzanillo, dies at 84

October 14, 2026

Cuban bolero singer Manolo del Valle, born Manuel Batista Salgado, died on Sunday, October 11, in Florida, where he lived. He was 84. The Orquesta Original de Manzanillo announced his passing on Monday with a farewell message to one of its former lead voices, and the Cuban Music Institute (ICM) confirmed the death, according to the Cuban News Agency (ACN) and CubaNet. No cause of death or funeral details have been released.

Born on May 7, 1942, in Manzanillo, in today's Granma province, Del Valle started singing in local clubs in 1958 and performed with the Trío Ideal and the Trío Los Bohemios. In 1964 he joined the Original de Manzanillo, which had been founded the year before, and spent 14 years carrying its sones and boleros across the island. "A part of our history lives in his voice," the band wrote in its tribute.

He later built a solo career in Havana, singing at venues such as Dos Gardenias and appearing at bolero festivals in Cuba and abroad. His name is tied to songs such as "Es mejor vivir así," also the title of his 1981 album, "Celos del viento y el mar," "No renunciaré a tu amor," "Ni tu cama ni tu almohada" and "Será la última carta."

Fellow musicians and fans on and off the island have paid tribute to his elegant phrasing and to a body of romantic song that accompanied several generations of Cubans over a career of nearly seven decades.