Latin singer cigarette smoker Sandro dead..

January 20, 2010 - Latin America is in mourning. Argentine singer Roberto Sánchez—much better known as Sandro—has died. Argentine singer Sandro, whose gyrating pelvis and romantic ballads brought comparisons to Elvis Presley and made him the first Latin American to sing in Madison Square Garden, died Monday of complications from heart and lung transplant surgery. He was 64.

Last year, in one of his final interviews, the singer blamed his smoking habit for his long illness. "I am debilitated because I cannot move. My life is my bed, my spot in the dining room where I read the newspaper, and from there I do not move," Sandro told Mitre radio of Buenos Aires. "I am to blame for the condition that I am in. I deserve it; I sought it out. I picked up this damn cigarette."

Sandro, who recorded 52 albums, acted in 16 movies and was awarded a Latin Grammy for career achievement in 2005, suffered from chronic lung disease that led to the Nov. 20 surgery. He died at the Italian Hospital in the Argentine city of Mendoza, said Dr. Claudio Burgos.

For more including a video click on the address below:
Sandro: Adios to a Legend, Cachando Chile: Reflections on Chilean Culture, 1/5/2010.