Tito Puente
Tito Puente was born in New York City, New York, United States on April 20th, 1923 and is the Composer. At the age of 77, Tito Puente biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 77 years old, Tito Puente physical status not available right now. We will update Tito Puente's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente (April 20, 1923 - May 31, 2000) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Ernest and Felicia Puente's son, "The Musical Pope," "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the Timbales), and "The King of Latin Music," are among Puente's nicknames.
He is best known for his dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions, which have endured for more than 50 years.
In several films including The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54, he and his music appear.
He appeared on several television shows, including Sesame Street and The Simpsons' two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. 5".Burns?
"They are all joking about it.""Oye Como Va" is his most popular song.
Early life
Tito Puente was born in 1923 at Harlem Hospital Center in the New York borough of Manhattan, the son of Ernest and Felicia Puente, Puerto Ricans living in New York City's Spanish Harlem. His family moved frequently, but the bulk of his childhood was spent in Spanish Harlem. Puente's father was the foreman at a razorblade factory.
He was described as hyperactive as a young boy, and his mother took him to 25-cent piano lessons after neighbors complained of a seven-year-old Puente beating on pots and window frames. By the age of 10, he was switched to percussion, drawing inspiration from jazz drummer Gene Krupa. He and his sister Anna in the 1930s formed a song-and-dance pair, but an ankle tendon injury prevented him from doing ballet as a career. Puente took his place after the drummer in Machito's band was drafted to the army.
Personal life and death
Richard "Richie" Puente's son was the percussionist in the 1970s funk band Foxy. Tito Puente Jr., Puente's youngest son, has passed on his father's legacy by performing several of the same songs in his shows and recordings. Audrey Puente, his son, is a television meteorologist for WNYW and WWOR-TV in New York City.
He died on June 1, 2000, at 2:27 a.m., after a show in Puerto Rico on May 31, 2000, and was flown to New York City for heart valve repair, but complications ensued, and he died on June 1, 2000. In 2003, he was posthumously named the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Career
Puente served in the Navy for three years during WWII after being drafted in 1942. He was credited with a Presidential Unit Citation for his nine battles on the escort carrier USS Santee (CVE-29). The GI Bill enabled him to study music at Juilliard School of Music, where he received formal training in conducting, orchestration, and theory.
Puente was at the height of his fame in the 1950s and helped bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds like mambo, son, and cha-cha-chá to mainstream audiences. Puente made popular Afro-Cuban rhythms so well that many people mistakenly identified him as Cuban. Dance Mania, Puente's most well-known album, was released in 1958.
The cha-cha "Oye como va" (1963), popularized by Latin rock musician Carlos Santana and later translated by Julio Iglesias, Irakere, and Celia Cruz, is one of his most famous compositions. In 1969, he was granted the keys to the City of New York by former Mayor John Lindsay. He was inducted into the National Congressional Record in 1992, and the Smithsonian awarded him the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in 1993.
Puente appeared on the music series Calle 54 in early 2000.
Tito Puente's name is often mentioned in a television film titled La Epoca, a film about the Palladium in New York, Afro-Cuban music and rhythms, mambo and salsa as dances and music, and much more. Many of Puente's, as well as Arsenio Rodrs, contributions, and interviews with some of Puente's collaborators, Alfonso "El Panameno" Joseph are included in the film.
Awards and recognition
- In 1995, Tito Puente received the Billboard Latin Music Lifetime Achievement Award.
- During the presidency of Sen. Roberto Rexach Benítez, Tito Puente received the unique honor of having both a special session of the Senate of Puerto Rico dedicated to him and being allowed to perform in his unique style on the floor of the Senate while it was in session.
- On September 10, 2007, a United States Post Office in Spanish Harlem was named after him at a ceremony presided over by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. José Serrano (D-NY).
- An amphitheater was named in his honor at Luis Muñoz Marín Park, next to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- In 1995, Puente was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.
- Puente performed at the closing ceremonies at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The timbales he used are displayed at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
- In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
- In 1990, he received a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
- In 1984, he received an honorary Decree from the Los Angeles City Council.
- On June 5, 2005, Puente was honored by Union City, New Jersey with a star on the Walk of Fame at Union City's Celia Cruz Park.
- In 1999, he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.
- On May 19, 1999, he received an honorary Mus.D degree from Columbia University.
- On August 20, 2000, East 110th Street in Spanish Harlem was named 'Tito Puente Way'.
- On October 11, 2022, Puente was honored with a Google Doodle in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.