 Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gomez ( 21 December 1947 – 25 February 2014 ) , known as Paco de Lucía [ <unk> ðe <unk> ] , was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist , composer and producer . A leading proponent of the new flamenco style , he helped legitimize flamenco among the establishment in Spain , and was one of the first flamenco guitarists to have successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz . Richard Chapman and Eric Clapton , authors of Guitar : Music , History , Players , describe de Lucía as a " titanic figure in the world of flamenco guitar " , and Dennis Koster , author of Guitar Atlas , Flamenco , has referred to de Lucía as " one of history 's greatest guitarists " . 
