The music world is in mourning after the death of Manolo Arjona at age 58 was confirmed. The artist is recognized, among other things, for being co-founder of the famous group Locomía.
According to reports, the artist died suddenly during the early hours of today at his home. The news was confirmed through a statement issued by the band’s own inner circle, sparking an immediate wave of shock among his fans of multiple generations.
According to testimonies from his closest friends, Arjona spent the last hours of his life in a state of absolute tranquility, fully dedicated to painting, one of the great artistic passions he had cultivated regularly since retiring from the stage. Those who were with him reported that the performer was working on one of his paintings during the afternoon, after which he decided to go to sleep as usual. «He went to bed and never got up,» his family explained with deep sadness, adding that the mortal remains of the iconic musician will be laid to rest at the Àltima Viladecans funeral home.
Born into a large family with traditional roots in Barcelona, Manolo Arjona’s life changed radically in the early 1980s. It was in Ibiza where he found the space of freedom needed to express his identity and aesthetic vision. In 1983, he joined the Font brothers, Xavier and Luis, as well as the Dutchman Gard Passchier, to initially form a transgressive collective of fashion designers and nightlife entertainers that would eventually evolve into the most influential electro-pop phenomenon of its time. The group’s definitive breakthrough came in 1989 with the release of their acclaimed studio album Taiyo.
Arjona not only contributed his voice and magnetism on stage but was also a key figure in shaping the revolutionary visual identity that characterized the group. With unforgettable songs like «Loco Mía,» the band introduced an unprecedented stage concept built on oversized shoulder-padded suits, complex synchronized choreography, and the magnetic play of giant fans that became their international trademark. The immense popularity the group achieved transcended Spain’s borders and reached massive success throughout Latin America.
After successive legal battles and member changes that dissolved the original lineup in the mid-1990s, Arjona kept a low profile, although he led several nostalgic reunions of the group in 2007 and 2011. His former bandmates shared heartfelt messages on social media to bid farewell to the «soul and loyalty» of the original project. This painful departure once again strikes the historical memory of the group, which had already suffered the loss of another of its most remembered singers, Francesc Picas, who also died in Barcelona in 2023.
Locomía was a Spanish band born in Ibiza in the early 1980s that became an international phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Before dedicating themselves to music, its members were a group of friends involved in fashion design and the island’s nightlife. Their striking aesthetic, with huge shoulder pads, extravagant costumes, and giant fans, became their hallmark. Musically, they mixed pop, dance, electronic music, and Latin rhythms. They achieved great popularity in Spain and Latin America with songs like «Locomía,» «Rumba Samba Mambo,» and «Loco Vox,» which were hits in nightclubs and on television shows. Despite their success, the group’s history was marked by constant member changes, internal conflicts, and legal disputes over the band’s name, leading to their dissolution in the early 1990s. Over time, there were several attempts to reunite Locomía with different lineups, as well as documentaries and a film that reviewed their history.
Para mí esto es un choreo total, los medios y la industria usaron a Manolo Arjona como un trapo y ahora lloran al ícono de los 90 mientras lo dejaron morir en el olvido. La dictadura del mercado siempre pisando a los artistas, hipócritas de mierda. Manolo sos eterno, te recontra banco.
Se murió Manolo Arjona, qué bajón. Pero para mí esto es síntoma de la decadencia cultural que dejó la izquierda. Los progres aplauden la movida marica de Locomía, pero yo creo que es una sociedad podrida. Que descanse en paz, pero no romanticen la degeneración. Viva la familia tradicional carajo.