Remembering Willie Colón

Episode notes

(Photo: Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images)

Willie Colón died last month. He was 75. 

If you know what salsa music is, basically, you can thank Willie Colón. He was a trombonist, producer, bandleader, composer, and pioneer of salsa music. Growing up in the South Bronx, he and some of his friends from the neighborhood would take their instruments and jam outside in the summers.  Colón went on to secure a record deal in his teens and then became a hugely influential musician and bandleader. 

In 1967, Colón put out his first album when he was just a teenager. He helped take the Latin soul sound of boogaloo into the salsa age. Over a career that spanned nearly 60 years, he cut over 40 records and produced many more for superstars like Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades, and Héctor Lavoe, selling over 30 million copies worldwide.

When Colón joined us back in 2014, he talked about finding success in music at a young age, what he envisioned for the future of salsa music, and his beginnings with the singer Hector Lavoe. 

A version of this interview originally aired in February of 2014