Willie Colón, an instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and one of salsa music’s greatest pioneers, died Feb. 21 of a respiratory illness at the age of 75 in Bronxville.
Colón died of interstitial lung disease at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Bronxville at the age of 75. He is survived by wife Julia Colón Craig, who he married in 1991, as well as four children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
General public visitation will be held on Sunday, March 8 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McMahon, Lyon & Hartnett Funeral Home in White Plains, and a public funeral mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Monday, March 9 at 9:30 a.m.
The Nuyorican
Colón was born William Anthony Colón Román on April 28, 1950, in the South Bronx to Puerto Rican parents. Colon credited his grandmother Antonia with raising him, as his father was in and out of jail and his mother had him at only 16 years old.
Colón’s grandmother was responsible for teaching him Spanish and introducing him to Puerto Rican music and culture, by spending summers together at her sister’s farm in Manati in PR, and experiencing the budding “Nuyorican” culture of the 1950s and early 1960s in New York City.
Colón said his grandmother bought him his first instrument, a trumpet, for his 11th birthday. He later switched to the trombone, the iconic instrument that made him famous, at 14. Inspired by Puerto Rican bandleader Mon Rivera, Colón began to play weddings and parties, and he was even known to take his trombone to Rivera’s concerts and wait to be invited to play on stage.
In 2025, just months before his death, Colón appeared in Bad Bunny’s music video for NUEVAYoL, as an homage to Colón’s impact on Nuyorican culture and Puerto Rican music.
Iconic collaborations with Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz
By the 1960s, Latin bandleaders across New York City were collaborating with each other and experimenting on a new kind of music genre, taking the Cuban son dance, Puerto Rican rhythms and oral histories, and New York’s jazz and R&B to create Salsa.
In 1964, Dominican bandleader Johnny Pacheco and former divorce lawyer Jerry Masucci formed Fania Records, an experimental label that was created to “promote Latino music,” from son, boogaloo, mambo and most famously, salsa.
Colón was signed to Fania Records as a trombonist at 15 and partnered with Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe on their debut album El Malo in 1967, which sold over 300,000 copies.
His and Lavoe’s consequent albums, including The Hustler (1968), Cosa Nuestra (1969), El Juicio (1972) and Lo Mato (1973) debuted songs that put their stamp on the fabric of Puerto Rican popular music, becoming well-known classics to generations of Latinos. Among Colón and Lavoe’s top hits were “Che Che Cole,” “Juana Pena,” “Aguanile,” “Todo Tiene Su Final” and “El Dia de Suerte.”
Even their joint Christmas album, Asalto Navideno (1971), became a smash hit, blending traditional Puerto Rican aguinaldos, or carols, with the big-band instruments of salsa. Rolling Stone named the album one of the 50 greatest salsa albums of all time, beat out by one of Colón’s own albums at number one.
In 1973, Lavoe split from Colón’s band, citing issues with Lavoe’s drug addiction. Colón then began to collaborate with Panamanian singer Ruben Blades, creating five albums together within 5 years.
With Blades, Colón began to experiment with storytelling in music and created what was called “intellectual salsa,” with songs like “Pablo Pueblo” and “Plástico”, which comment about the working class.
Colón and Blades’ 1978 album Siembra became both their best-selling albums, as well as the highest selling salsa album of all time, selling over 3 million copies. The album’s most famous songs are “Pedro Navaja,” a Latin spin on “Mack the Knife,” and “Buscando Guayabas,” Blades’ most well-known song. By 1982, Blades and Colón’s partnership had ended over money disputes.
In 1983, 10 years before Lavoe’s death, Colón and Lavoe partnered on one more album called Vigilante. In 1995, Colón also returned for one last collaborative album with Blades.
While recording his own songs with his band, Colón also participated in live performances and albums with the Fania All-Stars, a salsa supergroup featuring the likes of Pacheco, Blades, Lavoe, Yomo Toro, Cheo Feliciano, Carlos Santana and Celia Cruz, among others. Fania All Stars sold out venues across New York, including at Yankee Stadium, where 40,000 fans rushed the stage, as well as in Puerto Rico, Democratic Republic of the Congo and London.
Overall, Colón was featured on over 40 albums with, with legendary collaborations like Celia Cruz, David Byrne of the Talking Heads and Carole King as songwriter. He sold over 30 million albums in his career and has been honored with numerous honorary degrees in music, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy, and recognition from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame and Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Colón appeared in movies and music videos throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including films and shows such as Vigilante (1982), The Last Fight (1983) and Miami Vice in 1987.
A history of community activism, with a Westchester twist
He continued to use his music as a form of activism well into the early 2000s, releasing his most political song about the AIDS crisis “El Gran Varon,” in 1986. The song talks about a trans woman named Simon who is rejected by her father and dies alone in a hospital, presumably from contracting the virus.
Colón also actively participated in politics, speaking out about HIV/AIDS awareness, then campaigning and working for David Dinkins, New York’s first Black Mayor and Michael Bloomberg as advisor for Latino community outreach. He also independently ran in the Democratic primary for Congress against Elliot Engel in 1994 and for New York City public advocate in 2001.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Colón became increasingly more right-wing, becoming involved in Venezuelan presidential politics and expressing conservative views on social media. In 2008, he had disclosed he voted for Hillary Clinton, but by 2016, said he had voted for current president Donald Trump.
Colon also endorsed then-incumbent Republican Rob Astorino for Westchester County Executive in 2017 as part of the coalition of Latino leaders called Estamos con Astorino.
In 2014, Colón graduated from the Westchester County Police Academy and became a Deputy Sheriff for the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. He became a Deputy Lieutenant with the Westchester County Police in 2017, but resigned in 2022.
On Feb. 21, the Westchester County Police Retired Officers Association posted a brief tribute to Colon, featuring numerous pictures from his time with the Sheriff’s office: “RIP to Lt Willie Colon (WCSO)….an incredibly accomplished individual.”
The Port Chester Police Department also posted a heartfelt sendoff to Colon on the day of his death.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of our good friend, Willy Colon [sic]. Not only was Willy a fantastic musician, he was also a dedicated Westchester County Deputy Sheriff who donated many hours here in the Village assisting with local Parades. He was always a down to earth approachable person and would take time while helping out at events to say hello. May he Rest in peace, and thank you from the members of PCPD!”
The message included a repost of an illustration of Colon originally posted by the NYPD Hispanic Society, which also paid tribute to the late legend.
The NYPD Hispanic Society’s post reads, in Spanish and English: “Rest in God’s forever loving eternal peace renowned musician Willie Colón who passed away peacefully this morning [Feb. 21], surrounded by his loving family. His timeless gift of his music and the cherished memories he created will live on forever. Prayers for his family.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Salsa legend Willie Colón funeral services set for Westchester, NYC
Reporting by Alexandra Rivera, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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