TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Wed. Mar. 16, 2022– The passing of renowned Honduran guitarist and producer Ramon Eduardo “Guayo” Cedeño, has left the Latin American and Garifuna music world, reeling. Guayo, as he was most affectionately known, was 48 years old and died from respiratory complications in a hospital in Tegucigalpa on Friday, March 11—just two days after the birth of his second child, Matias.

Over the years, Cedeño has worked with a number of Garifuna artists and has contributed vastly to the local music scene, having worked extensively with Stonetree Records, and playing the guitar on several acclaimed albums, including Watina, Umalali, Laru Beya, and Landini. In fact, since working with Stonetree for the first time in 2006, when he collaborated in the production of Andy Palacio’s Watina, Guayo and his guitar have been featured in every single Garifuna song made by the record label.

“Our music will never be the same without Guayo, but I thank him from the bottom of my heart for the many gifts he has left us,” wrote Stonetree’s founder, Ivan Duran. Duran has described being in the studio with the skilled guitarist as “an otherworldly musical experience”.

Born on January 7, 1974, in the coastal city of La Ceiba, the Honduran native spent his early years watching his father play in the band Los Robbins. He would also eventually go on to encounter Garifuna music, which, according to Cedeño’s website, is what ultimately led him to record and tour the world years later with some of the world’s greatest Garifuna stars: Andy Palacio, The Garifuna Collective, Umalali, and Aurelio Martinez. A recording can be found on YouTube of Cedeno performing a guitar solo at the 2013 Africa Festival in Germany as a part of the Aurelio Martinez World Tour. There, he gives an impassioned and enthusiastic performance, while Martinez, often referred to as his brother in music, dances in the background.

“Guayo Cedeño my heart is broken, nothing else remains for me to tell you, thank you for so much my little brother,” wrote Nilo Espinal, lead vocalist of Diablos Negros, of which Cedeno was also a part, on Facebook.

Guayo leaves behind his wife, musician Gaby Flores; daughter Amelia, his newborn son, and a host of fans from Honduras, Belize, and across the globe. His first and only album, Coco Bar, was produced in 2015 and pays tribute not only to his father but to 1960s Honduran music. Currently, the Cedeno family is hosting a GoFundMe campaign to support his wife and children.