The music world bids a sad farewell to Robe Iniesta. His representation agency announced his death this Wednesday, at the age of 63, putting an end to a career that defined a good part of rock in Spain. In the statement, released by his label and his closest friends, they referred to him as “the master of masters”, “the last great philosopher, the last great humanist and contemporary literary figure of the Spanish language” and the singer whose melodies “have managed to shake generations and generations”.
The news has surprised the music and cultural sector. Robe had been away from the media spotlight since November last year, when he had to cancel the final part of his tour Ni Santos ni Inocentes, after suffering a “pulmonary thromboembolism”. Although that was a serious crisis, many expected his recovery. However, today his death marks the definitive end of his voice and his presence on stage.
An irreverent voice that knew no moderation
Robe Iniesta was never a politically correct artist. His rebelliousness was part of the hallmark of Extremoduro, the band he led and that, together with him, reached the category of Spanish rock legend. His way of understanding life and music combined rawness, sincerity, bad blood, poetry and an aesthetic freedom that few dared to claim. He summed up his philosophy with brutal honesty: “I only live provisionally“.
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In 1997, he released an album that he titled bluntly: Iros todos a tomar por culo, a cry of rage and universal nonconformity that, he insisted, was not directed at anyone in particular but at “the whole planet”. That boldness, that transparency, earned him detractors even in his own land, Extremadura, but also won him a legion of followers who identified with his way of living and singing.
For more than thirty years, his guitar and his strummed throat did not pretend to be commercial. They were meant to be real, an echo of the soul of discontent, anguish, desire and heartbreak. A raw, hard, visceral song.
An immense legacy: records, songs and respect among musicians
Robe Iniesta’s legacy is measured in albums, in songs, in rock nights, but also in influence. With Extremoduro he signed 14 albums that are now classics: from raw and direct hymns like So payaso, Salir or Deltoya, to deeper and more mature pieces like Ama, ama, ama, ama y ensancha el alma or La vereda de la puerta de atrás.
After his time with the band, in his solo stage he left works such as Mayéutica, with which he explored his own creative universe, and songs such as El poder del arte, which his last line-up released as a symbolic farewell.
His artistic imprint can also be appreciated in generations of musicians who admired him without complexes. Bands such as Marea, Platero y Tú, Reincidentes, Estopa or Tu Otra Bonita cite him as an absolute reference. In the words of Kutxi Romero (Marea): ” I would change all my songs for only two or three of Roberto Iniesta’s songs. Always “.
Critics and institutions also valued his career: in 2024 he received the Gold Medal for Fine Arts, an official recognition of his contribution to culture, just at his creative peak.
Beyond the stereotype: a complex, human and contradictory artist
Robe’s life was not a bed of roses. He did not hide his turbulent past: he spoke naturally about his addictions, his relationship with drugs and how these experiences helped him, paradoxically, to create. He admitted that those intense years “counted by seven, like dog years”. This brutal honesty made him a cult figure, but also cost him criticism, censorship and media exclusion.
His work did not seek to please: it sought to move, to shake, to lash out against the comfortable and the complacent. This attitude made him the voice of many who could not find space in the conventional.
But he also left a clear artistic evolution: as time went by, his lyrics became more reflective, more poetic, more human. He went from raw provocation to introspection, from excess to painful honesty, from shouting to whispering. His artistic end was a hymn to life, to art, to the search, to pain turned into song.
Farewell in the midst of another Spanish rock loss
The death of Robe Iniesta comes just one day after the death of another giant of national rock: Jorge Martínez, leader of Ilegales. Two hard blows in less than 48 hours to the music scene, leaving orphaned a generation of rockers who defended a music without concessions.
The coincidence intensifies the media and emotional impact: today, many will be forced to review his discography, his concert memories, his youthful nights, his adolescent rebellion.
A pending farewell and a legacy that transcends generations
In the coming days, Robe Iniesta’s family and team will announce the details of the official tribute, which will be held in his hometown, Plasencia (Cáceres). It will be an act of recognition, farewell and celebration of a life devoted to rock, poetry, disorder and art.
In the meantime, his work, that “wonderful work, full of human values”, in the words of those who bid him farewell, will remain as a legacy. A legacy for those who create, for those who feel, for those who love authentic music.
