Fania Records, which Pacheco co-founded, tweeted that the musician was « the man most responsible for the genre of salsa music. He was a visionary and his music will live on eternally. »
Salsa idol Johnny Pacheco, who was a co-founder of Fania Records, Eddie Palmieri’s bandmate and backer of music stars such as Rubén Bladés, Willie Colón 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 “Cuqui” Pacheco, said on the artist’s Facebook account. Fania Records tweeted that the musician was “the man most responsible for the genre of salsa music. He was a visionary and his music will live on eternally.” In a post on his social media, Blades said that “Pacheco leaves us with an important musical legacy, represented by all the collaborations he made during his distinguished career.
