Dominican Artist Johnny Pacheco, the 'Godfather' of Salsa, Dies at 85

By Joshua Summers First Posted: Feb 17, 2021 02:19 AM EST

The idol in the World of Salsa, and Dominican Musician, Johnny Pacheco Says Goodbye at Age 85

(Photo : Andrew H. Walker)
L-R) Roberto Roena, Bobby Valentín, Johnny Pacheco and Ismael Miranda attend the 22nd annual ASCAP Latin Music Awards at Hammerstein Ballroom on March 18, 2014 in New York City.

Salsa music has lost one of its greatest pillars, Johnny Pacheco, as he waves his goodbye at 85. ABC7 reported that the co-founder of Fania records had been hospitalized in New York City a few days earlier due to pneumonia. His wife, Maria Elena "Cuqui" Pacheco, also shared this news on the artist's Facebook account.

In a Twitter post, Fania Records noted that the musician was "the man most responsible for the genre of salsa music." The record company also said that Johnny Pacheco was "a visionary and his music will live on eternally."

NBC News noted that Johnny Pacheco was also a bandmate of Eddie Palmieri back in the day and a backer of famous music icons like Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, and Willie Colón.

Johnny Pacheco's Friends Express Sympathy

In a post on his social media account, Blades said that Pacheco "leaves us with an important musical legacy, represented by all the collaborations he made during his distinguished career."

Snopes reported that singer Marc Anthony expressed his grief about the news calling the man behind salsa music "maestro of maestros" and a good friend.

"Your [Pacheco] sense of humor was contagious and I am forever grateful for your support, for the opportunity to be in your presence and for your amazing legacy," Anthony wrote in his social media post.

Who is Johnny Pacheco?

According to the NBC News report, Johnny Pacheco was born on March 25, 1935, into a musicians' family in the Dominican Republic. They moved to New York in the 1940s, and Pacheco taught himself to play the accordion, clarinet, violin, and saxophone and studied percussion at Juilliard.

CNN Entertainment noted that Pacheco was able to guest on gigs with several Latin bands in the city because of his talent until he could lead his orchestra in the early '60s.

According to CNN entertainment, he called the group Pacheco Y Su Charanga, named for the "charanga" or Cuban ensemble that plays "danzón," also a Cuban genre inspired by European classical music.

In 1963, Pacheco partnered with attorney Jerry Masucci to found Fania Records. According to Billboard's 2014 oral history of Fania Records, Fania's rise started with Pacheco and Masucci selling albums out of their cars in Spanish Harlem.

Pacheco's label focused on stars with a unique blend of Latino musical styles with mostly up-tempo, accompanied by a strong percussion and a musical ensemble that can steal the show from the singer.

ABC 7 noted that Pacheco worked as the music director, arranger, composer, and producer, overseeing the label's music genre, known as salsa today. Salsa is a mixture of Cuban mambo, chachachá and guaracha, Puerto Rican rhythms, and Dominican meringue.

In 2005, Johnny Pacheco received the Latin Recording Academy Music Excellence Award and was nominated for multiple Grammys and Latin Grammys.

In a statement, Gabriel Abaroa Jr., president and CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, said Pacheco's music and legacy would "endure forever and continue to inspire music creators around the world."

Although he is already gone, the legacy in Latin music of Pacheco, who is survived by his wife and their four children, will remain through his works and the artists he had worked with.