On September 30, 1946, Hector Juan Pérez Martnez, popularly known as Hector Lavoe, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. El Cantante De Los Cantantes, as he is affectionately known, moved to New York at the age of 17 with the goal of becoming well-known.
He caught Johnny Pacheco’s eye despite having no formal musical training. Pacheco introduced Lavoe to a young trombonist called Willie Colon who was looking for a singer when he started looking for artists for his new Fania label.
Colon was in the middle of recording for Al Santiago’s Alegre label when Pacheco noticed his potential and signed him.
What did Hector Lavoe die of?
On June 29, 1993, Héctor lost suddenly at Saint Clare’s Hospital in Manhattan as a result of an AIDS-related illness. He was 46.
He was initially buried in Saint Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx. Lavoe and his son were buried alongside his widow Nilda, who had gone away just a few weeks previously, in their hometown of Ponce in June 2002 at the request of his family.
His remains are laid to rest in the city’s Portugués Urbano neighborhood’s Ponce Civil Cemetery.
