Armenian singer Paul Baghdadlian passed away early Tuesday morning at Glendale Adventist Hospital after a long illness, Asbarez newspaper reports.

Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1953, Paul Baghdadlian began his career in 1975 in Beirut. He has written and produced hundreds of hit songs, mainly love ballads that were popular among Armenians across the globe.

In an interview in Beirut last year, Baghdadlian said that one of his happiest moments was hearing that two Armenians had gotten married after meeting at one of his concerts.