Willie Colón, the Grammy-nominated architect of urban salsa music and social activist, died Saturday. He was 75.
Over his decades-long career, the trombonist, composer, arranger and singer produced more than 40 albums that sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. He collaborated with a wide range of artistes, including the Fania All Stars, David Byrne and Celia Cruz. His celebrated collaboration with Rubén Blades, Siembra, became one of the bestselling salsa albums of all time, and the pair were known for addressing social issues through the genre.
Willie’s family and manager confirmed his death through social media posts. “Willie didn't just change salsa; he expanded it, politicized it, clothed it in urban chronicles, and took it to stages where it hadn't been heard before,” manager Pietro Carlos wrote. “His trombone was the voice of the people, an echo of the Caribbean in New York, a bridge between two cultures.”
Willie, who was nominated for 10 Grammys and one Latin Grammy, made famous songs such as El gran varón, Sin poderte hablar, Casanova, Amor verdad and Oh, qué será.
Rubén Blades said on the social platform X that he confirmed “what I was reluctant to believe” and offered his condolences to Willie’s family.
The path to the trombone — and fame
Born in New York’s Bronx borough, Willie was raised by his grandmother and aunt, who from a young age nurtured him with traditional Puerto Rican music and the typical rhythms of the Latin American repertoire, including Cuban son and tango.
At age 11, he ventured into the world of music, first with flute, then bugle, trumpet and finally trombone, with which he stood out in the then-nascent genre of salsa. His interest in trombone arose after hearing Barry Rogers playing it on Dolores, Mon Rivera’s song with Joe Cotto.
“It sounded like an elephant, a lion ... an animal. Something so different that, as soon as I heard it, I said to myself: ‘I want to play that instrument,’” he recalled in an interview published in a Colombian newspaper in 2011.
At 17, he joined the group of artistes that formed the famous record label Fania Records, led and created by Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco. Fania was largely responsible for the new sound that was produced in the Latin world of New York and would later be called ‘salsa.‘
In 2004 the Latin Recording Academy awarded Colón a special Grammy for his career and contributions to music.
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