The man responsible for popularising Latin American music in the UK has died at the age of 100.

Edmundo Ros passed away at his home in Spain, showbusiness fraternity the Grand Order of Water Rats confirmed.

Secretary John Adrian said: “He died peacefully at his home in Spain, two months short of his 101st birthday”. He said the musician, who made his career in Britain, had died of old age.

Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in December 1910, Mr Ros lived in Venezuela from 1927 to 1937, where he played in the Venezuelan Military Academy Band as well as being a tympanist in the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra.

Later he received a music scholarship from the government, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1937 to 1942. He formed his own rumba band, performing at London clubs and restaurants, and cut his own tracks.

His name was made when the then Princess Elizabeth made her first public dance to his music. In later years he and his orchestra were often invited to play at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Ros went on to own a club, dance school, record company and an artist’s agency, while his band grew and was renamed Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra. He sold millions of records, making hundreds of recordings altogether.