Buena Vista Social Club singer Pio Leyva has died at the age of 88, from a heart attack. The singer, who collaborated on 25 albums during his lifetime, worked with late guitarist Compay Segundo in the 1950s, teaming up with his former colleague again to form the Buena Vista group in the 1990s.
Leyva apparently showed great promise as a child, winning a bongo competition when he was six, going on to sing with legendary fellow Cubans the late Beny More and Bebo Valdes before finding international fame when the band were featured in the highly successful Buena Vista Social Club film. He is the fourth member of the band to die in recent years. As previously reported, both Segundo and pianist Ruben Gonzalez died back in 2003, and Ibrahim Ferrer passed away in August last year.