Mourning fans queue for miles to pay tribute to ‘distinctly Argentine’ rock star

Fans queuing in Avellaneda, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, to pay their respects at Solari’s coffin. Photograph: Roberto Tuero/Sopa Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Fans queuing in Avellaneda, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, to pay their respects at Solari’s coffin. Photograph: Roberto Tuero/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Mourning fans queue for miles to pay tribute to ‘distinctly Argentine’ rock star Carlos ‘Indio’ Solari, virtually unknown elsewhere but said to be Argentina’s most popular musician, inspired cross-generational devotion The line stretched for more than 7km (four miles). Mourners sang rock songs, waved banners, and carried speakers blasting music while smoke rose from makeshift barbecues and vendors sold T-shirts bearing the image of a bald man with sunglasses. View image in fullscreen Carlos Alberto ‘Indio’ Solari performing in Olavarría, 2017. Photograph: Agustín Marcarian/Reuters As evening fell, a drizzle set in, but the queue remained. At the end of the line in Avellaneda, outer Buenos Aires, stood a chapel containing the body of a rock star. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the wake on Sunday for the singer Carlos “Indio” Solari. Solari, who died on Friday from a stroke at the age of 77, was widely regarded as Argentina ’s most popular musician: his last concert in 2017 was attended by as many as 400,000 people. But his popularity challenges assumptions about a shared Latin American cultural sphere: Solari was virtually unknown outside Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay, which shares much of its cultural and linguistic heritage. His lyrics – usually dense, cryptic, and laden with literary, political and historical references – inspired a devoted following that cut across generations, though it is particularly strong among working-class young people. Ji ji ji , a frenetic anthem, or La gran bestia pop , a critique of the music industry, are ubiquitous at weddings, football matches and parties across Argentina. Phrases such as “every prisoner is a political prisoner” or “violence is to lie” became mottoes for political resistance. Solari co-founded the influential rock band Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota in 1976. After the group split in 2002, he continued performing with a new band until Parkinson’s disease forced him to stop appearing live. He openly identified as a Peronist, and the far-right government of Javier Milei rejected permission for a wake in the congress building. The ceremony was instead held in Avellaneda, a district governed by Peronists. “The best things in Argentina were El Indio and Maradona,” said Lorena Núñez, one of the mourners waiting in line. Núñez, an Uruguayan pharmaceutical worker, crossed the Río de la Plata to attend the wake. “He taught us the value of the word – by forcing us to think to interpret his lyrics,” she said. Quoting verses from Solari’s songs, her friend Matías Rodríguez, who travelled with her, said: “El Indio isn’t just a singe