Felipe Staiti, the guitarist, songwriter, and founding member of Argentine rock band Enanitos Verdes, died Monday evening, April 13, 2026, at Hospital Italiano in Mendoza, Argentina. He was 64. The band confirmed his death on social media Tuesday, calling it an irreparable loss and asking fans for privacy during a period of mourning.
Staiti’s passing comes less than four years after the 2022 death of Marciano Cantero, the band’s original frontman and bassist. With Staiti gone, none of the three musicians who founded the group in 1979 remain active in the lineup. Drummer Daniel Piccolo, the third original member, had long since stepped away from touring.
A Final Show Just Days Before His Death
The timing of Staiti’s death stunned fans and the Latin music industry alike. Enanitos Verdes had performed at La Santa in Santa Ana, California, on April 11 — just two days before he died. The band still had 20 additional tour dates scheduled for 2026, including upcoming shows in Hawthorne and Carson, California.
After returning to Mendoza following that festival, Staiti was hospitalized with a fever and placed under observation. He died on the evening of April 13 from a massive hemorrhage.
His last major festival appearance came at Vive Latino 2026 on March 14 at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City. Staiti performed a 10-song set alongside bassist Guillermo Vadalá and drummer Jota Morelli, opening with “Guitarras Blancas” and running through fan favorites like “La Muralla Verde,” “Mi primer día sin ti” and “Amores lejanos.” During several of the most recognizable choruses, the crowd sang loudly enough to fill the spaces once occupied by Cantero’s voice.
From Mendoza to the World Stage
Born Aug. 29, 1961, in Mendoza, Staiti showed musical talent early. He entered the Instituto Cuyano de Cultura Musical at age nine, where he composed his first piece, “Canoa.” As a teenager, influenced by bands like Deep Purple, he formed his first project, Esencia Natural. That experience led to his partnership with Cantero and Piccolo in November 1979, when they created Enanitos Verdes.
National recognition arrived in 1984, when the group was named Grupo Revelación at the Festival de La Falda. That same year, the band expanded to a quintet with the additions of guitarist Sergio Embrioni and keyboardist Tito Dávila, and recorded their debut album. By the mid-1990s, Enanitos Verdes had become one of the defining acts of rock en español.
Their 1994 album “Big Bang” produced “Lamento Boliviano,” a song that became arguably the most recognized Argentine rock track ever recorded. The song — actually a cover of a track by the band Alcohol Etílico — was transformed by Cantero’s voice, Andean panpipe instrumentation, and a guitar solo by Staiti that gave it international reach. According to Apple Music, it is the most-streamed Argentine rock song of all time, and it recently surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.
Staiti was also a key songwriter for the band. He wrote “Mejor No Hablemos de Amor,” one of the standout tracks on “Big Bang.” Over four decades, the group released 14 studio albums and scored entries on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Hot Latin Songs charts.
Carrying the Band After Cantero
When Cantero died in September 2022, the future of Enanitos Verdes was uncertain. Staiti stepped into the lead vocal role, performing publicly for the first time as the band’s singer at the Bésame Mucho Festival at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in December of that year.
He spoke candidly about the transition. “I’m an interpreter. I’m not trying to be Marciano or sing like Marciano, which would be impossible,” Staiti once said. “What I do is more an interpretation of the songs.”
Beyond Enanitos Verdes, Staiti led side projects including the Felipe Staiti Trio, where he explored a more instrumental and experimental sound. In 2025, the band toured alongside Spanish rock group Hombres G, and had a full slate of dates lined up for 2026.
An Uncertain Future for the Band
Enanitos Verdes has not yet announced whether the group will continue. Organizers of the Rock en Lima festival, where the band was scheduled to perform on June 28, confirmed the act has been removed from the lineup, stating that “the legacy of Enanitos Verdes is impossible to replace.”
The band’s official statement confirmed that Staiti’s family has chosen not to hold a wake or public ceremony. “His music, his dedication, and his story remain forever with us and with all those who accompanied him throughout these years,” the statement read.
Across Latin America, musicians, cultural figures, and fans flooded social media with tributes to Staiti, honoring a career that spanned more than 45 years and helped shape what rock en español became. With his death, one of the genre’s most enduring stories has reached its final chapter.
