Manuel de la Calva, member of the Dynamic Duo, dies at 88.

Manuel de la Calva , a member of the Dúo Dinámico, died this Tuesday at the age of 88 at the Anderson Hospital in Madrid, as confirmed to EFE by his artistic partner, Ramón Arcusa .

He explained that the singer and composer suffered from pulmonary fibrosis , diagnosed after an incident at a concert in Sitges (Barcelona) three years ago, in which he collapsed, although during all this time he remained "positive, talkative and fighting against the disease until recently."

At the moment it is unknown where the funeral chapel of De la Calva will be installed. As a member of the Dúo Dinámico , he has a large number of hits since his beginnings in the late 1950s, such as 'Perdóname' , 'Amor de verano' , 'Esos ojitos negros' or 'Resistiré' , recovered as an anthem during the covid-19 pandemic .

"Manolo de la Calva, my soul mate, more than a brother, a companion of a hundred adventures and a thousand songs, has left us today. Don't cry for him, he wouldn't want to . He was the soul of Dúo, always cheerful, optimistic, and positive. Sing with him in this farewell," lamented his partner in Dúo Dinámico.

Ramón Arcusa thanked his friend "for so much." " You are eternal . Take care of yourself wherever you are. We're going to miss you a lot," he said.

Manuel de la Calva met Ramón Arcusa at the Elizalde aircraft engine company, where they had both started working. While still teenagers, they teamed up to emulate the idols of their time, and so, in the final days of 1958, they appeared on the radio in public, christened The Dynamic Boys , which the program's host referred to as Dúo Dinámico (Dynamic Duo).

Thus began an artistic career marked by countless successes, which brought color to a Spain still largely in black and white and soon made the leap across the Atlantic. In the early 1960s, they also starred in four feature films.

In 2014, the duo received the Latin Grammy for Musical Excellence in recognition of their career, which was added to other awards such as the Gold Medal for Merit at Work (2010) and the SGAE Medal of Honor (2024).

Alongside his career with the Dúo Dinámico, Manuel de la Calva was also a composer, arranger and producer for other artists (such as Julio Iglesias, Camilo Sesto, Nino Bravo and Massiel), and registered more than 560 titles with SGAE , an entity of which he was a member since October 1960.

Manuel de la Calva , a member of the Dúo Dinámico, died this Tuesday at the age of 88 at the Anderson Hospital in Madrid, as confirmed to EFE by his artistic partner, Ramón Arcusa .