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The guitarist and founder of the band La Unión, Mario Martínez, passed away this Sunday “after a long struggle”, as reported by the band through its Twitter account: “Friends, today is a very sad day for La Unión. . Mario Martínez, a key player in our history, participant and creator of great moments and songs, has left us after a long struggle. All my support and deepest condolences to his family. Fly high Mario. D.E.P”.
Mario Martínez was part of the band since 1982 and remained in it as guitarist until 2015, when he left the group due to health problems. La Unión was formed at the end of 1982 with Rafa Sánchez (vocals), Luis Bolin (bass) and Martinez himself, who was joined as a fourth member by Íñigo Zabala (keyboards).
Their first three songs went unnoticed, but on March 12, 1984 they presented the single and maxi-single ‘Lobo Hombre en París’ at Madrid’s El Sol, which catapulted them to fame selling more than two hundred thousand copies, being number one. on the charts for nine consecutive weeks and going gold.
The band continued to have a stable career during the rest of this decade and the nineties, but the year 2002, in which they released the album ‘El Mar de la Fertilidad’, marked a long recording hiatus that lasted until 2010 with ‘Big Bang’, which was followed by ‘Hipgnosis’ volume one (2013) and two (2015), the last LPs by La Unión to date. In 2018 they released a song called ‘Tiempo’, when Martínez had already left the group, and now the publication of a new work called ‘Última Estación’ is expected. La Unión have sold more than 3 million records, receiving a double diamond record in 2006 for their recording career.
Martínez himself announced in 2015 that he was suffering from laryngeal cancer: «I wanted to thank you for your expressions of affection and interest in these months in which I have been absent. Also tell you that I have recently been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer for which I am already receiving treatment and that will keep me away from the stage for a while. It is a long race in which I hope to reach the finish line as soon as possible to be with all of you again. Cancer is like the sea, you don’t have to be afraid of it, you have to have respect for it. I take this opportunity to insist on the importance of going to the doctor for any symptom, no matter how simple it may seem.
The history of the formation ended sadly, since on May 14, 2020, Rafa Sánchez announced the dissolution of La Unión in a statement. However, a day later, Luis Bolín stated that the band was not dissolving, accusing Rafa Sánchez of “making a hoax, inventing news and taking advantage of it for his own benefit”, generating a controversy that has not yet been closed. . However, Sánchez has paid his particular tribute to his partner up to five years before this controversy, through his Instagram account: «A sad day here on earth but wherever you go there will surely be jokes, laughter and an exquisite taste for exaggeration. I have loved you like a brother Mario».
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