“It is with sadness that we announce the passing of beloved husband, father and well-known musician Willie Colón,” reads the official Facebook profile. “He passed away on Saturday morning surrounded by his family,” the post continued.
Born in the Bronx, New York on April 28, 1950, Colón showed musical talent from an early age. He could play the trumpet and trombone as a child, and at seventeen he released his first album called El Malo.
In the years 1967-2013, he released over sixty albums and ranked among the pioneers of the salsa music genre. In his music, he focused mainly on the themes of Puerto Rico, where a large part of his relatives came from. Last year he appeared in the music video for the song Nuveyol by current Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny. Colón received a Latin Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In addition to music, Colón also devoted himself to acting and appeared, for example, in the films The Avengers, Salsa or It can meet you too. He also appeared in the series Miami Vice.
During his life, Willie Colón was also politically active. He ran for the New York City Council several times and in 2008 supported the candidacy of Hillary Clinton in the presidential primaries. He has long criticized the Venezuelan ruling party led by Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro, and in 2017 said he voted for Donald Trump as the new US president.
