Tito Puente, Nuyorican singer, songwriter, and music legend was honoured by Google Doodle on Tuesday, October 11, to commemorate one year of the unveiling of the Tito Puente Monument in East Harlem, New York City. His life, career, and legacy are being celebrated as part of the U.S. Hispanic Heritage Month.

The doodle is illustrated by New York-based Puerto Rican artist Carlos Aponte who considers Puente to be an important part of his musical experience during his childhood in Puerto Rico. 

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Who was Tito Puente?

Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. was born on April 20, 1923, in Manhattan to Ernest and Felicia Puente. He grew up in a Puerto Rican family in NYC’s Spanish Harlem. He had two siblings – a brother, Alberto Puente, and a sister, Anna Puente. 

Described as hyperactive in his childhood, he was enrolled in piano lessons after his neighbours complained of hearing a seven-year-old Puente beating on pots and window frames. 

Before venturing into music professionally, Puente served in the American Navy for three years during World War II. After being discharged, he studied at the Julliard School of Music where he completed his education. 

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He started his career as a drummer in his early teens and gained fame playing for Federico Pagani’s Happy Boys and Machito’s Orchestra. In 1948, he started his own band, the Tito Puente Orchestra, and earned acclaim. During the 1950s, he brought music genres like mambo and cha-cha-cha to mainstream audiences. His song Oye Como Va gained worldwide popularity in 1970 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Latin Grammy Wall of Fame.

Following the mambo movement, Puente experimented with other genres of Latin music as well, such as the Boogaloo, Pachanga, and ultimately Salsa. He was considered a musical pioneer for his creativity and experimentation and is widely credited for popularizing Latin music in the United States. Puente was also devoted to creating opportunities for the Latin community. In 1979, he introduced a scholarship fund that supported young Latin percussionists for over 20 years.

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Tito Puente received the Billboard Latin Music Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He performed at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Sumer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1997. In 2003, he was honoured with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously. 

Tito Puente married Margaret Asencio in 1963. They had three children – sons Tito Puente Jr. and Richard Puente, and a daughter, Audrey Puente.

In May 2000, Puente suffered a heart attack and passed away on June 1, 2000, aged 77 in New York City.