Willie Colón

Born in the Bronx of Puerto Rican parents, Willie Colón is one of Salsa music's leading pioneers with a career going back more than 55 years. He matched his artistic career with his extraordinary humanitarian and political activism, with such honors as being member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities (under President Clinton).

Colón made his recording debut for Fania Records as a teen, and would go on to receive a Grammy Award (along with 11 nominations) and numerous gold and platinum-selling recordings. His collaboration with Panamanian-born singer/composer Rubén Blades forged the path for some of salsa music's most exciting and socially relevant music of the 1970s, and he has produced some of salsa's greatest singers including Celia Cruz and Hector Lavoe.

Among his early works was the song "Che Che Colé" (an adaptation of a Ghanaian children's song), which was used in the play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Much of Colón's early work in the salsa genre featured the use of Puerto Rican rhythms such as bomba, a trademark of the Nuyorican sound, as was his powerhouse trombone.

Following his collaborative years with Rubén Blades and other bands, Colón embarked on a solo career and produced several recordings, and immersed himself in his political and humanitarian work, which included a run for a congressional seat as well as activism for Latino civil rights and AIDS research.

His reunion concerts with Blades in 1997 were some of the most anticipated by the salsa community, and his arranging and producing work are some of the most vibrant and groundbreaking of the genre. A man of many talents, Willie Colón is truly one of Latin music's icons. —Rebeca Mauleon