Drums in his neighbourhood and a wake in parliament: Uruguay bids farewell to Ruben Rada

Uruguay mourned legendary musician Ruben Rada on Thursday, with a public wake held in the Legislative Palace, the seat of parliament. The wake, open to all, followed spontaneous gatherings of hundreds of people in Rada's hometown, armed with drums, the previous evening. The executive declared a day of official mourning, declaring that the national flag would be flown at half mast at all public buildings, embassies, barracks, fortresses, air bases, and warships. Funeral honors and the cost of the burial were to be covered by the National Treasury.

The wake took place between 2pm and 9pm at the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos, and was authorized by Vice-President Carolina Cosse. It was the spontaneous response to Rada's death from bilateral pneumonia at 83, which had brought people together around Isla de Flores, in Montevideo's historic heart of candombe and where Rada grew up.

Rada's song Muriendo de plena, meaning "Dying of Plena," requested that he be mourned with singing rather than weeping. The same song was performed at the wake by Rada's children, his wife Patricia Jodara, and musicians León Gieco, Natalia Oreiro, Ricardo Mollo, and Jorge Nasser. The gathering drew political figures from across the spectrum, including former President Julio María Sanguinetti, president of the National Party board Álvaro Delgado, Colorado Party secretary general Andrés Ojeda, Frente Amplio president Fernando Pereira, and former Vice-President Lucía Topolansky.

Sanguinetti compared Rada to independence founder José Gervasio Artigas and World Cup-winning captain Obdulio Varela. Topolansky recalled that young people left apples beside the coffin, referring to one of Rada's early hits, Las manzanas.

A burial is scheduled for Friday, with the cortege leaving from the corner of Isla de Flores and Santiago de Chile in Barrio Sur, heading to the Cementerio del Norte.