Innovative composer, vibrant trombonist, bandleader, and salsa visionary Willie Colón has died. On social media yesterday (February 21), his family confirmed the news. “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, and renowned musician, Willie Colón,” their statement read. “He passed away peacefully this morning, surrounded by his loving family.” Colón was 75 years old.
Colón’s Puerto Rican grandmother exposed him to Latin sounds at a young age. In the Bronx, he heard guaracha, jíbaro, tango, and Cuban music and, by 1961, he learned the flute, trumpet, and bugle before eventually settling on the trombone. It was Barry Rogers’ playing on Mon Rivera and Joe Cotto’s “Dolores” that nudged him in the instrument’s direction. At 15, after gigging at weddings under the stewardship of Rivera, the Fania label signed Colón to a record deal. His first album, 1967’s El Malo, sold over 300,000 copies, and Colón later became one of the best-selling salsa artists of all time. His work combined funk, jazz, R&B, Latin rhythms, and the political teachings of figures like Martin Luther King Jr. together. “It was rebellious music,” he told the Miami Herald 20 years ago. “The music wasn’t explicitly political yet, but the music was a magnet that would bring people together.”
Vocalist Héctor Lavoe was among Colón’s greatest collaborators, singing with the instrumentalist on El Malo and then Cosa Nuestra, Crime Pays, and Lo Mato in the immediate years after. He worked with Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades, David Byrne, and Tito Puente. Colón and Blades’ Siembra album is among the best-selling Latin projects of all time. Colón earned 11 Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations during his career, and the Latin Recording Academy rewarded his 40 years of work with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. In 2019, he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Outside of music, Colón was a civil rights activist and community leader in New York City. He was a member of the Latino Commission on AIDS, president of the Arthur Schomburg Coalition for a Better New York, and on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s board of directors. When Colón replaced Stephen Sondheim on the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers national board, he was the first person of color to hold the role. From 1989 to 1993, he was a special assistant to and spokesperson for NYC mayor David Dinkins. Colón acted in films (Vigilante, It Could Happen to You) and television (Miami Vice) and appeared in Bad Bunny’s “NuevaYol” music video in 2025.
Bunny paid tribute to Colón this weekend, at his Debí Tirar Mas Fotos tour, telling a Brazilian crowd: “The inspiration of so many of these great musicians who left their mark on this earth will never die as long as there are talented young people like those here, keeping the music, salsa, and all Caribbean rhythms alive.” Craft Recordings’ Bruce McIntosh reflected on Colón’s passing. “Willie was much more than an iconic artist; he was a true visionary that forged a new genre of Latin music that we all love today called Salsa,” he wrote. “His legacy is etched into the very soul of Latin culture. He will forever be ‘El Maestro.’”
Fania Records also shared a statement on February 21, writing that “Willie helped bring Latin music from the streets of New York to audiences around the world. His music declared identity, pride, resistance, and joy. His music was not just heard; it was lived. Drawing deeply from his surroundings, he channeled the rhythm of the streets, the poetry of everyday survival, the ache of teen angst, and the fierce hope of a people determined to be seen—all of which found a home in his sound. From those roots grew a profound devotion to culture, heritage, and truth. He did not simply represent his community; he amplified it.”
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