Cuba honors singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez on his 76th birthday

Havana, Nov 29 (Prensa Latina) Considered an icon of Cuba's New Song Movement (Nueva Trova, in Spanish), with songs that have become Cuba's soundtrack, singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez is celebrating his 76th birthday on Tuesday, after a prolific career on stages worldwide.

On his Twitter account, Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso took the opportunity to congratulate and hug the artist, while highlighting the impact of his songs in Cuba’s history that ‘are already part of our lives.’

At the same time, several institutions and prominent figures conveyed their best wishes to the composer who, along with Noel Nicola and Pablo Milanes became the founding fathers of the New Song Movement half a century ago.

The Cuban Music Institute and the Union of Writers and Artists of the island (UNEAC) joined the tribute to the 2004 National Music Prize winner, whose work places him as one of the local musicians of greatest international transcendence.

El Necio is 76 years old and his existence is not limited to a physical body, a stage, a guitar, he lives in many, mainly in those he has shaken with his music, UNEAC wrote on Twitter.

For its part, Casa de las Americas published that ‘Silvio’s life and songs are inseparable from the history of the institution, as it is ‘impossible not to have him present when we think of (Roberto Fernandez) Retamar, Mariano (Rodriguez) and especially Haydee (Santamaria).’

Author of emblematic songs such as Ojala, La Maza, El Unicornio Azul, and Te doy una cancion, Rodriguez has recorded some twenty studio albums, five live albums, and nearly a dozen compilation and tribute albums.

His career has been endorsed by dozens of national and foreign awards, including the Alejo Carpentier Medal, the Felix Varela First Degree Order, the Julio Antonio Mella Order, the Raul Gomez Garcia Medal and the Premio del Barrio, as well as the Doctor Honoris Causa at the National University of Cordoba (Argentina) and Honorary Academic at the Academy of Nursing Sciences of Vizcaya (Spain).