Costa Rican music legend Ray Tico passed away Wednesday night at age 79 hugging his guitar, and national musicians are planning to pay him tribute this weekend with their songs.

A wake will be held all day Friday at Funerario del Recuerdo in San José's Barrio Don Bosco, leading up to a mass at the funeral home's chapel at 4 p.m. His ashes will then be returned to his birthplace, the Caribbean port city of Limón, Sunday, where a ceremony will be held to scatter them, according to a statement from Papaya Music. The time of this ceremony is yet to be confirmed; for more information, call 524-0728.

Musicians are invited to share in this experience “as Ray would have wanted” by bringing their instruments to play.

Ramón Jacinto, who later became Ray Tico, grew up in the 1930s in Limón, according to the daily La Nación.

He learned how to play the guitar on his own and frequently headed out to sing to tourists who came to the city on cruise ships.

He came to San José at age 14 to sing on radio programs, which helped him launch his career, and later traveled to Cuba, reinventing himself as Ray Tico.

During his successful career, he befriended other Latin American music stars of the day, including Mexico's Pedro Infante.

His voice was captured on just two records, the first of which was recorded in 1981 by MarMusic Records along with Quincho Prado on flute and the second of which was recorded in 1990 by Papaya Music.

-Tico Times