Hernando Aviles of Famed Mexican Trio

Hernando Aviles, a Puerto Rico-born guitarist and singer who was the most recent of the lead vocalists with the famous trio Los Panchos, has died in Mexico City.

He was 72 and had been hospitalized since May 10, the newspaper El Nacional said this week. Aviles was initially treated for heart trouble and later for other problems, including a kidney infection. He was in a coma when he died Saturday, the newspaper reported.

At one point Los Panchos was consistently at the top of record charts in this country. Over the years the group recorded about 40 albums.

Such hits as “Perdida” (Lost), “Sin Ti” (Without You) and “Perfidia” (Treachery) made them one of the most popular Latin groups of all time.

Los Panchos’ other songs included “Rayito de Luna,” “La Magdalena,” ’Me Voy Pa’l Pueblo” (I’m Going to the Village), “Sin un Amor” (Without a Love), “Depende de Ti” (It Depends on You) and “Contigo” (With You).

Albums with Eydie Gorme also sold well and their tours of theaters across the country (including the Million Dollar in Los Angeles) normally were sold out.

Steven Loza of the Music Department at UCLA said the group was formed in 1944 by Alfredo Gil and Chu Chu Navarro and that Aviles was about the fifth lead singer they employed.

They were the best known of the “trio-style” guitar groups, each man playing that instrument while also singing. Loza said that they were the first to replace one of the larger guitars with a higher-pitched model that provided their distinctive sound.

“They were the most famous (trio) in all Latin music,” he said.

Aviles earlier had formed a duo, Azteca, before joining Los Panchos. He also led the Aviles Quartet and Los Tres Reyes, or The Three Kings.

His illness prevented him from attending a ceremony in honor of Los Panchos in the Puerto Rican Congress last February.