Argentinians queue for miles to mourn Carlos 'Indio' Solari

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. 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.

His popularity, however, was largely confined to Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay. Solari’s lyrics—dense, cryptic and loaded with literary, political and historical references—inspired a devoted following across generations, especially among working-class young people.

Argentina, Avellaneda

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