Popular protest singer Piero dies at 81

Piero De Benedictis, the Argentine singer-songwriter better known as Piero, died on Wednesday at 81. The unmistakable voice behind classic songs such as the poignant ballad “Mi viejo” (“My father”) and protest song “Para el pueblo lo que es del pueblo” (“What belongs to the people, for the people”) was famous all around Latin America, with a huge following in Argentina since the mid-sixties, sharing stages with legends like Mercedes Sosa, Charly García, and Pablo Milanés. First a romantic singer with a soothing voice, then an icon of protest music, he went into exile in Spain following the…