Willie Colón at an event in February 2020. Credit: Media Punch, MediaPunch Inc / Alamy / Profimedia
Willie Colón, trombonist, vocalist and composer, died Saturday at the age of 75, according to the announcement made by the family of the legendary salsa artist.
“While we mourn his absence, we rejoice in the eternal gift of his music and the precious memories he created that will last forever,” Colón's family said in a statement on the artist's Facebook page.
The cause of death was not disclosed, according to Reuters.
Willie Colón was born to Puerto Rican parents in the Bronx on April 28, 1950, and over the course of his career has recorded dozens of albums, including “La Gran Fuga” in 1970 and “El Juicio” in 1972, according to Fania Records, a label that promotes salsa music.
His first album sold hundreds of thousands of copies
Colón signed with Fania at age 15, and two years later, in 1967, released his first album, “El Malo,” which sold more than 300,000 copies, according to his biography on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra's website.
Colón's music combined elements of jazz, rock and salsa, incorporating the rhythms of traditional music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Africa, the biography also states.
According to the biography, the artist used his “songs to describe and investigate the issues of life in the US as a Puerto Rican and also to suggest the cultural contributions that Puerto Ricans have to offer.”
In 2004, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Latin Academy of Music Arts and Sciences.
A veteran of social activism, Colón was a member of the nonprofit Latino Commission on AIDS and the UN Immigrant Foundation.
