Salsa loses one of its pillars. Willie Colón has died at the age of 75 in New York due to heart and respiratory problems.
An artist associated with the emblematic Fania Records label and the Fania All-Stars collective, which took salsa throughout the world, Colón published his first album at the age of 16. Later, releases like ‘Cosa Nuestra’ (1968) and ‘La Gran Fuga’ (1970) made him a symbol of urban salsa. ‘Siembra’, his legendary album with Rubén Blades from 1978, is the best-selling salsa album in history and includes the emblematic ‘Pedro Navaja’, the flagship song of the “gangster” salsa that Colón produced.
Thanks to these collaborations together with Héctor Lavoe, today we can talk about the artistic development of artists like Bad Bunny or Nathy Peluso, who have returned salsa to the mainstream, although ideologically Colón could not be more alien to them: on his official Instagram account he frequently attacked Bad Bunny and showed extremely conservative positions, even defending ICE in one of his latest publications. Colón was a firm supporter of Donald Trump and voted for him in both of his candidacies.
He showed special hostility towards Benito, accusing him of inflating the reproductions of his songs on Spotify using bots. He also questioned the quality of his Super Bowl halftime performance.
Recently, Rauw Alejandro sampled Colón y Lavoe’s ‘Qué Lío’ (1968) on the title track of his latest album, ‘Cosa Nuestra’ (2025). The influence of the New York trombonist and conductor of Puerto Rican origin also extends to the visual sphere: producer Nusar3000 recently claimed the aesthetics of salsa covers from the 70s and 80s, including several by Colón.
Known as the “Bad Guy from the Bronx,” Colón revolutionized salsa by infusing it with the aggressiveness of the trombone and an urban and street language, with a strong political and social content, a facet that he would also develop in his public life. In addition, it promoted the careers of music legends such as Celia Cruz and Héctor Lavoe. Without forgetting their controversial positions, songs like ‘Oh, Qué Sera’ continue to be chilling.
