NEW YORK 鈥� Salsa idol Johnny Pacheco, who was a co-founder of Fania Records, Eddie Palmieri鈥檚 bandmate and backer of music stars such as Rub茅n Blad茅s, Willie Col贸n and Celia Cruz, died Monday. He was 85.
He had been hospitalized in New York a few days earlier for pneumonia, his wife, Maria Elena 鈥淐uqui鈥� Pacheco, said on the artist鈥檚 Facebook account.
Fania Records tweeted that the musician was 鈥渢he man most responsible for the genre of salsa music. He was a visionary and his music will live on eternally.鈥�
In a post on his social media, Blades said that 鈥淧acheco leaves us with an important musical legacy, represented by all the collaborations he made during his distinguished career.鈥�
Singer Marc Anthony lamented the loss of Pacheco, calling him 鈥渕aestro of maestros鈥� and a good friend.
鈥淵our sense of
Pacheco was born March 25, 1935, in the Dominican Republic into a family of musicians. In the 1940s the family moved to New York, where he taught himself to play accordion, violin, saxophone and clarinet and studied percussion at Juilliard.
In 1954 he formed The Chuchulecos Boys with Palmieri on piano, Barry Rogers on trombone and other musicians who would gain renown in the salsa scene, such as Al Santiago, Mike Collazo and Ray Santos.
But the life-changing moment came in 1963, when Pacheco partnered with attorney Jerry Masucci to found Fania Records.
Pacheco was the music director, composer, arranger and producer, overseeing the label鈥檚 genre of music that came to be known as salsa 鈥� a mixture of Cuban mambo, guaracha and chachach谩, Puerto Rican rhythms and Dominican meringue. He received the Latin Recording Academy Music Excellence Award in 2005 and was nominated for multiple Grammys and Latin Grammys.
鈥淗is music and legacy will endure forever and continue to inspire music creators around the world,鈥� Gabriel Abaroa Jr., president and CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, said in a statement.
Pacheco is survived by his wife and their four children.
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Associated Press writer Sigal Ratner-Arias reported this story in New York and AP writer Berenice Bautista reported from Mexico City.
Sigal Ratner-Arias And Berenice Bautista, The Associated Press
