Born in the province of M'Banza Kongo, the singer, who was awarded the New Artist of the Year at the World Music Awards in 1999, had been undergoing cancer treatments for a year, he said.
In 2018, the musician was awarded the National Culture and Arts Award, the most important distinction of the State in this area.
Presenting himself with a sound that he himself defined as "Afro-Portuguese-Atlantic", Waldemar Bastos was also the only non-fado singer to sing at the translation ceremony, at the National Pantheon, in Lisbon, of the body of Amália Rodrigues, of whom he was friend.
