Johnny Pacheco – the bandleader, songwriter, producer, arranger and co-founder of the label Fania Records who helped popularize salsa on an international scale – has died, reports NPR. He was recently admitted to the hospital, according to Fania co-founder Jerry Masucci’s brother Alex Masucci. No cause of death was announced. Pacheco was 85.
Pacheco was born in the Dominican Republic and moved with his family to New York in the 1940s to escape the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. He taught himself several instruments before studying percussion to Julliard. He became a working studio musician, and in the early 1960s, his group Pacheco Y Su Charanga made pachanga music popular.
In 1963, Pacheco co-founded Fania Records with Jerry Masucci. The label would soon become synonymous with salsa, and Pacheco was the maker of the label. Pacheco and Fania helped start the careers of Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Ruben Blades, Héctor Lavoe and so many others. He wrote dozens of iconic songs, including ‘Mi Gente’ (popularized by Lavoe). He was also a prolific member of the label from the 60s to 80s label, releasing several albums as a bandleader, as well as collaborating with artists such as Cruz.
He has performed regularly and recorded with a supergroup of label artists called the Fania All-Stars. One of the group’s most notable performances was the 1974 music festival in Zaire, which coincided with the battle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. In 2005, Pacheco was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.