We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. As Latin music evolved from the boogaloo of the late '60s to the salsa boom of the '70s, Lavoe was at its forefront and "El Cantante" the singer of some of its most representative songs. As he grew more involved in music, he drew his inspiration from Puerto Rico's great sonero Ismael Rivera , as well as Cheo Feliciano. At the age of 17, Lavoe decided to quit music school in Ponce and set his sights on a singing career in New York City. The pressures of being a huge salsa star were apparently too great for Lavoe. He had a difficult time handling his success and suffered a number of personal setbacks along the way. But Lavoe's fans never forgot about him and he always came back singing. In , his final album, Strikes Back, was nominated for a Grammy.
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His personality, style and the qualities of his voice led him to a successful artistic career in the whole field of Latin music and salsa during the s and s. The cleanness and brightness of his voice, coupled with impeccable diction and the ability to sing long and fast phrases with total naturalness, made him one of the favorite singers of the Latin public. During this period he was frequently featured as a guest singer with the Fania All Stars recording numerous tracks with the band. After a short rehabilitation, he relapsed following the deaths of his father, son, and mother-in-law. His uncle was well known in Ponce as a tres player. One of a kind, his unique voice, refined and with impeccable diction, demanded attention. Upon arriving in New York he was met by his sister Priscilla. The lead vocalist was singing off key, and as a goodwill gesture, Lavoe demonstrated how it was supposed to sound. Willie never officially asked Lavoe to join his band, but after the recording, said to him: "On Saturday we start at 10 p. With the sudden fame came love and lust and experimentation with marijuana, heroin, and cocaine.
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The pair would produce 14 albums. Together they sounded like El Barrio. They survive today as some of the most successful and lasting musical creations of Latino culture in the United States. From humble beginnings, he had come to the United States hoping to find fancy Cadillacs, tall skyscrapers and tree-lined streets - a far cry from what he found in El Barrio. With stardom came fame and fortune and many excesses, a personal trajectory that came to symbolize the lives of Salsa stars in the s. More than others, Lavoe had a difficult time handling his success and suffered a number of personal setbacks. He struggled with drugs and alcohol through the s, and in , following a stint at rehab, the consecutive deaths of his father, son, and mother-in-law drove him back to drugs and an attempted suicide at the Hotel Normandy in Puerto Rico. He survived and continued to sing, recording an album before his health began failing after being diagnosed with AIDS.
He was funny, family-oriented, obviously very smart, etc. If I wasn't such a fighter and survivor I would have given up on this marriage Sitting here in the afternoon, I happened to google 'being a doctors wife' because it's a lonely day and I wanted to see if its hard for others, too. They even refrain from tea and coffee. This happened to me, and it took me forever to get out of the cult. You are commenting using your Twitter account.
