Keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors dies at age 74
Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales, (born 19 January 1964, in Jocotenango, Guatemala), known as Ricardo Arjona (Spanish pronunciation: [arˈxona]), is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter and former basketball player and school teacher. Arjona is one of the most successful Latin American artists of all time, with more than 20 million albums sold to date. He is often called El Animal Nocturno (The Nocturnal Animal), thanks to his breakthrough success with his fourth studio album which bears the same name. His music ranges from ballads to Latin pop, rock, pop rock, Cuban music, and more recently a cappella performances and a mixture of Tejano music and Norteño music, and other Afro-American and Latin sounds. Arjona is noted for his lyrical style, and often addresses topics such as love, homosexuality, kidnapping, rape, racism and immigration.. Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales was born on 19 January 1964 in Jocotenango, Guatemala, to parents Ricardo Arjona Moscoso and Mimi Morales de Arjona. He spent most of his childhood in Guatemala City, where he began his musical instruction.. At age twelve, he participated in the contest "Festival Infantil Juventud 74" with "Gracias al Mundo", a song composed by his father, finally winning the event. Although he initially enrolled in architecture and engineering at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), he graduated with a degree from the School of Communication Sciences. Arjona was a talented basketball player who played for Leones de Marte and TRIAS.. He toured Central America as a member of the Guatemalan national team. Until recently, he held the record for the most points scored (78) in a single game by a Guatemalan. He also taught at a primary school (called Santa Elena III), where he claimed to have spent six hours giving lessons and the rest of the day playing soccer. This earned him a visit from a Ministry of Education representative, who was sent to evaluate his pupils. The representative found that the students' education was actually above average. In the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he met Puerto Rican Leslie Torres and had two children with her: Adria and Ricardo. They separated in 2005. As of 2010, Arjona was dating Venezuelan model Daisy Arvelo, with whom he has a child....
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