Willie Colón, Pioneering Salsa Icon, Dead at 75

The musician made more than 40 albums, earning him nine gold and five platinum records Obituary Willie Colón, Pioneering Salsa Icon, Dead at 75 The musician made more than 40 albums, earning him nine gold and five platinum records By Althea Legaspi Althea Legaspi Contact Althea Legaspi on X Charli XCX Reviews Dave Grohl’s ‘Abstract Approach’ to Viral Apple Dance Video Former Illinois Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced to 20 Years for Murder of Sonya Massey Sabrina Carpenter to Perform at 2026 Grammy Awards View all posts by Althea Legaspi February 21, 2026 Willie Colón performs in his Concert "50 YEARS" on Nov. 12, 2016 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. GV Cruz/WireImage Willie Colón, the legendary salsa icon, died Saturday morning, his family confirmed. He was 75. A cause of death has not been disclosed. “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, and renowned musician, Willie Colón,” his family said in a statement on his official Facebook page. “He departed peacefully this morning, surrounded by his loving family.” The statement continued, “Although we mourn his absence, we also rejoice in the eternal gift of his music and the cherished memories it created, which will live on forever.” Born William Anthony Colón Román on April 28, 1950 in the Bronx in New York City, the musician embraced his Puerto Rican heritage, learning to speak Spanish from his grandmother Antonia. He launched his six-decade career as a teenager, releasing his first album, 1967’s El Malo, at the precocious age of 16 alongside Héctor Lavoe. Their partnership was a fruitful one, the duo became one of record label Fania’s most important salsa acts. Lavoe provided the young Colón music lessons, encouraging the musical prodigy to be innovative with instrumentation and song structure. Colón’s love for music began years prior, while in elementary school, where he played the flute, and shortly after the bugle. By age 13, he picked up the trumpet and began taking lessons, all of these early musical forays informing his distinguished technique and style. He composed a salsa classic with Lavoe in 1969, “Che Ché Colé” from Cosa Nuestra, infusing Afro-Caribbean music with Puerto Rican rhythms. Their pioneering sound was the bedrock that led to salsa’s enduring popularity, which erupted in the Seventies. In 1976, he turned experimental eye to producing a ballet, “El Baquiné de Los Angelitos Negros,” introducing his symphonic salsa style. The Seventies also ushered in another fruitful partnership, with Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades. Though their first collaboration came by way of 1977’s Metiendo Mano! that showed the promise of what was to come, it was the album that followed that cemented the greatness of their partnership. The 1978 album, Siembra, which landed at Number One on Rolling Stone’s Best Salsa Albums list, became the best-selling salsa album of all time, a distinction it kept for decades. Trending Stories Conan O'Brien Breaks Silence on Rob Reiner's Murder After Director Attended His Holiday Party: 'I Was in Shock'