Legendary ‘old school’ flamenco singer Fosforito dies at the age of 93

The flamenco world is mourning the death of singer Antonio Fernández Díaz, known artistically as Fosforito, one of the last of the ‘old school’ flamenco singers who died on Thursday in Malaga at the age of 93. The legendary singer and flamencologist underwent heart surgery last month, which he began to recover from, but over the last few days, his condition had worsened, leading to his hospitalisation on Wednesday (12 November). The Cordoba-born singer, who had lived in the province of Malaga for many years, died at the Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga due to an infection, according his son, Alejandro Fernández.

Antonio Fernández Díaz was born in Puente Genil, Cordoba, in 1932. He was an artist from a very young age, blessed with an exceptional voice and an intense knowledge of all flamenco styles. His professional career began in 1956, when he won all five prizes at the national flamenco competition in Cordoba, an achievement that has never been repeated. This launched him on a career that spanned more than 70 years. He became a major presence at the most coveted flamenco festivals and peñas, not just in Spain, but around the world.

Considered one of the most important singers of the 20th century, he excelled in the most ancient and authentic style of flamenco, ‘a golpe’, a style with the rhythm supplied by the singer’s knuckles on the table top. His encyclopaedic knowledge of flamenco song made him one of the basic pillars of the natural school of flamenco. He combined this vast knowledge with his rigorous sense of rhythm in order to reproduce song styles that are rarely sung by other singers. He revived forgotten styles like the zángano from Puente Genil, and brought new life to countless other old forms of flamenco song, including the polo, caña, soleá apolá and serrana.

He has to his credit more than thirty recordings, one of which is the vast Antológica del Cante Flamenco, which he recorded with Paco de Lucía in 1969.

Fosforito received many awards over the years. In 1968, the Cátedra de Flamencologia de Jerez de la Frontera (professorship of flamencology) honoured him with the national prize for cante; and in 1985, he was awarded the second Compás del Cante. In 1999, he was presented with the coveted Premio Pastora Pavón, the highest flamenco award given by the Junta de Andalucía regional government.

One of the highlights of his career (and there were many) was receiving the prestigious Llave del Oro del Cante (golden key of flamenco singing), which he was finally presented during the flamenco biennial in Malaga in 2005. He competed in the third Llave de Oro del Cante competition in Córdoba in 1962, although the award went to another legendary singer, Antonio Mairena. As one journalist at the time declared, “Whilst the key went to Antonio Mairena, it was Fosforito who helped forge the lock into which it fits.”

The golden key has only ever been awarded to five singers, the first of which was Tomás el Nitri in 1862: the other recipients were Manuel Vallejo (1921), and Camarón de la Isla, who received the distinction in 2000, eight years after his death.