His birth name was José Rómulo Sosa who lost his battle to pancreatic cancer at the age of 71. Darn that freaking cancer that has left no family in the world untouched!
At the start of his career, he had a privileged voice that catapulted him to early fame that would later turn out to be his worst enemy. He battled addictions for a very long time. He was the first Mexican singer to go international and lead the way for others.
I heard of his passing in the afternoon as I was channel surfing tired of the news that has dominated our airwaves this week. The two main Spanish speaking networks in the USA did a good job of covering this sad event. They had live coverage both in the USA and Mexico.
Many people went to his Hollywood star in Los Angeles to lay flowers on it. While in Mexico City the place of his birth they played tribute to him in his former neighborhood by singing his songs and taking up a "coperacha" (collection) so they could hire professional mariachis to play his unforgettable music by the statue that was erected in his memory many years ago.
José José was a naturalized American citizen who lived in Florida. Here is a short synopsis of his life https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/28/entertainment/jose-jose-death/index.html
Both networks indicated that he was a trending topic not just in Mexico and the USA but worldwide. Since I do not know how to navigate around social media I have no idea how that played out.
My favorite song by him...La Nave del Olvido https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIi5W1zGQRw
My second favorite songs El Triste https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWSAEGMPXT8
Rest in peace...El Principe de la Canción...you will be missed :-(
