BMI Remembers Salsa Legend Willie Colón
BMI was saddened to hear of the passing of renowned Salsa trombonist, bandleader, composer, producer and songwriter Willie Colón, who died Saturday at the age of 75.
A native New Yorker with strong familial roots in Puerto Rico, Colón took to music in his teens, playing trumpet and dabbling in R&B, rock, jazz and Puerto Rican folk music. By 15, he’d picked up trombone and signed with independent label, Fania Records. It was at Fania that Colón truly established himself, recording with Hector Lavoe and Ruben Blades, with whom he recorded arguably his most celebrated album, Siembra in 1978, which has gone onto become the highest-selling Salsa album of all time. Colón later worked with a wide host of Latin luminaries such as Mon Rivera, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. His music honed a sound that was both infectious — mixing pop, funk, jazz, R&B and jazz with Caribbean rhythms and influences — and boasted a social conscience. He used his music to shine a light on social inequities and emphasize the cultural contributions of Puerto Rico.
Colón received a Latin GRAMMY for Lifetime Achievement in 2004 and was named one of Billboard’s 30 most influential Latin artists of all time. He was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.
A true musical visionary, Willie Colón will be deeply missed by his friend, fans and family at BMI.
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