Héctor Lavoe

Original name: Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez
Date of birth: September 30, 1946 (deceased June 29 1993)
Place of birth: Ponce, Puerto Rico

Héctor Lavoe was at the forefront of the salsa boom. He was born in Puerto Rico, but he moved to New York City when he was 17 years old. By 1966 he found himself fronting Willie Colón’s Orquestra. They formed a partnership and from there went on to make 14 albums together.

In 1973 Colón pushed him into a solo carrier, which shot him into stardom. Unfortunately he could not handle the sudden succes resulting in problems in his personal life. As things started to spiral out of control he turned to drugs, and later he was diagnosed with AIDS. Unable to deal with his many misfortunes, he tried to commit a suicide in Puerto Rico in 1988. He survived it, but died 5 year later in poverty in New York in 1993.

In 1987 his final solo album, Strikes back, was nominated to Grammy Award.
Héctor Lavoe symbolizes the salsa era of ’70s, and his natural style of improvisation made him a unique and unequaled artist.
Representative songs: Mi gente, El Cantante, Periodico de Ayer.

Discography:
Fania Records

1967    El Malo
1968    The Hustler
1968    Guisando
1969    Cosa Nuestra
1970    La Gran Fuga
1971    Asalto Navideno
1972    El Juicio
1973    Asalto Navideno Vol. 2
1974    Willie
1975    The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
1978    Déjá vu
1983    Vigilante

Soloist:
1975    La Voz
1976    De Ti Depende
1978    Comedia
1979    Feliz Navidad
1979    Recordando a Felipe Pirela
1980    El Sabio
1981    Que Sentimiento
1985    Revento
1987    Strikes Back
1993    The Master & The Protege with Van Lester
1997    Live!
2001    Tu Bien Lo sabes
2005    Mi Regreso


by Zsuzsa Melkvi
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About the Author: Zsuzsa Melkvi is a salsa dancer and teacher, having competed in Latin-American and Standard dances from 1995-1998. She is also the founder of Baila Cuba (www.bailacuba.hu), a Dance company focused on giving exclusively pure Afro-Cuban workshops in Hungary. Zsuzsa holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Hertfordshire.