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 Grammy-winning Cerati had been in a coma since suffering a
stroke in May 2010, after a show in Venezuela.
"This morning, patient Gustavo Cerati passed away," said a
statement from the Buenos Aires hospital where he was receiving
care.
Soda, as most fans call the group, shot to fame across Latin
America and in Spain in the 1980s with a distinctive, harmonious
rock-pop sound and a slick image that set them apart from other
Latin rock acts and set the stage for future Latin American
stars.
Colombian pop idol Shakira said on Facebook: "Gustavo, our most
important song of all has yet to be written. I love you, my
friend. And I know you love me. As you taught me, 'I will use
love as a bridge' which will keep us together forever."
Guitarist and vocalist Cerati formed Soda with bass player Zeta
Bosio and drummer Charly Alberti in 1982, just as Argentina's
military dictatorship started to crumble following a brief war
in the British-ruled Falkland Islands.
During a career that spanned three decades, he received a string
of musical accolades including Latin Grammys and MTV awards,
both with Soda Stereo and for his numerous solo projects.
Sony Music signed Soda and the band went on to record seven
albums between 1984 and 1995, including Signos (Signs), which
propelled them to regional fame, and Cancion Animal (Animal
Song), perhaps their most popular record.
As a youngster, Cerati was a fan of Pink Floyd, The Beatles and
David Bowie, but the Soda Stereo sound is more often compared
with The Police.
Buenos Aires-born Cerati was 9 years old when he started playing
guitar and joined his first band at 12.
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Soda split up in 1997 as creative and personal differences became
irreconcilable after 15 years together, although they reunited in
2007 for a farewell tour.
"Few things have been as important in my life as Soda Stereo,"
Cerati wrote in a letter published in the newspaper Clarin after the
split. "It's a delicate balance of clashing ideas."
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2006, he described
cocaine binges in his Soda days and how he quit a heavy smoking
habit after suffering a stroke.
"After you reach 40, these situations force you to change your way
of life," he said, but he showed no signs of retiring from the music
scene.
"I don't feel age, or something that says 'it's caught up with me'."
Cerati's solo career brought him international awards in 2006 when
he won two Latin Grammys for best rock album "Ahi Vamos" (There We
Go) and best rock song "Crimen" (Crime), a single that gained huge
popularity in Latin America and Spain.
He released his last album Fuerza Natural (Force of Nature) in 2009,
which earned him three more Grammys in 2010.
(Additional reporting by Maximilian Heath and Alejandro Lifschitz;
editing by Matthew Lewis and Gunna Dickson)
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