Thanks, Wikipedia.
Facundo Cabral (May 22, 1937 – July 9, 2011) was an Argentine singer and songwriter.
He was best known as the composer of "I'm Not From Here Nor There", which he improvised during one of his concerts.
His songs have been covered by Spanish language interpreters such as Alberto Cortez, who was also a friend of his, Juan Luis Guerra and Joan Manuel Serrat.
After touring the world, Cabral enjoyed popularity in his home country during the early 1980s, when Argentine radio demanded local content after the Falklands War.
He was enormously popular in all Latin American countries. When he performed in Peru or Mexico, which he called his second home, tickets were sold-out long before the performance date(s).
Facundo Cabral was named a United Nations Messenger Of Peace in 1996.
Cabral was born in La Plata.
He first sang in Tandil, 350 km from Buenos Aires.
From the most humble of beginnings he came to inspire millions around the world through his songs, poems and 66 books.
He walked 3,000 km at the age of nine to look for work to support his mother and six siblings after his father abandoned them.
When he left his mother told him "This is the second, and last gift I can give you. The first was to give you life, and the second one, the liberty to live it".
He wrote music that inspired millions. He met Mother Teresa and Jorge Luis Borges. He performed in over 165 countries in eight different languages.
His wife and one-year-old daughter were killed in a plane crash in 1978.
He was nearly blind and crippled, and was a cancer survivor.
He once said: I always ask God, why did you give me so much? You gave me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, lights. I saw everything. I know there is cancer, syphilis and spring and apple fritters.
Cabral was shot and killed during a tour in Guatemala City while en route to La Aurora International Airport on July 9, 2011.
He was mourned throughout Latin America.
Guatemala's 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu described his death as a great loss for humanity. She likened Cabral as a man who walked the path of Jesus.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez described Cabral as the greatest troubadour of Latin America and the Che Guevara of music.
