Ms. Velazquez died Saturday of complications from a fall she suffered in October, her son Mariano Rivera said.
A native of Ciudad Guzman in central Mexico, she began playing piano when she was 4 years old and went on to study at the National Conservatory.
While overseeing classical music programs for the pioneering radio station XEQ, Ms. Velazquez began writing popular tunes.
The first to become famous was “Besame Mucho,” which became a big band hit during World War II and was later recorded by hundreds of artists, including the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Wes Montgomery and Placido Domingo.
On Sunday, hundreds of fellow artists filed past her coffin during a special tribute at Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts, where she studied music in 1938.
Mexican television and radio stations devoted hours of coverage to her music and to interviews with artists mourning her passing.
- Associated Press
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