Luis Aguile | Argentine musician, 73

Luis Aguile, 73, an Argentine singer-songwriter whose career blossomed after he moved to Spain, died in a Madrid hospital on Saturday, his manager said.

The baritone had been suffering from stomach cancer. He was being treated at Sanchinarro Hospital in a suburb of Madrid, where he died, manager Victor Saboya said.

Born Luis Maria Aguilera Picca on Feb. 24, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Mr. Aguile moved to Spain in 1963 just in time to benefit from the birth of popular-music television programs that perfectly suited his lighthearted, polished style. He was best known for his worldwide hit "Cuando Sali de Cuba" ("When I Left Cuba").

The singer-songwriter composed 400 songs and recorded twice that number in a career that also encompassed the Spanish operetta style known as zarzuela.

Mr. Aguile had been working on two major projects just before his death, Saboya said.

The first, a zarzuela titled "Viva Madrid, Grandes Exitos de Broadway" ("Long Live Madrid, Big Broadway Hits"), was approaching completion and the other, an homage to Martin Fierro, an epic work by the Argentine poet Jose Hernandez, had long been Mr. Aguile's cherished personal ambition. - AP