Ruben Blades Remembers Willie Colon

As promised, Rubén Blades is paying tribute to his longtime collaborator and friend Willie Colón. Colon died on Saturday at age 75.

Once his family announced the news, Blades took to Instagram. “What I was reluctant to believe: Willie Colón has indeed passed away. I send my deepest condolences to his wife Julia, his children, family, and loved ones. I will write more about Willie and his vital and important musical legacy later when I calm down,” Blades said.

The Panamanian musician made good on his promise and shared his in-depth thoughts on his complex relationship with Colón in a lengthy post on his website, written in Spanish. Blades began by detailing the last time he saw the Puerto Rican singer “at the wake of our friend and colleague, the bongo player Jorge ‘Georgie’ González.” He continued: “I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and there was Willie. If I was surprised to see him, the rest of the people present almost fainted when they saw us together. Contrary to what some might have expected, our conversation was cordial.”

The two musicians together pioneered the contemporary salsa boom in the Seventies. Their 1978 album, Siembra, which landed at Number One on Rolling Stone’s Best Salsa Albums list, became the best-selling salsa album of all time, a distinction it held for decades. But in recent years,
Blades and Colón were not as close after the two became embroiled in a thorny legal battle over contracts and political differences.

The Panamanian musician addressed these challenges in his tribute, while concurrently holding reverence for Colón’s impact. “Despite the difficulties that existed and will continue to exist, we both always respected what we did and the experiences we went through during those six years and six albums together, creating musical directions unprecedented at the time, in a genre brimming with immeasurable talent,” he wrote in his tribute.

Blades went on to recount the first time he met Colón and fellow influential salsa musician Héctor Lavoe in Panama. “The energy and rebellious spirit that emanated from the young band made me a fan for life,” he wrote. The Panamanian singer kept recounting the impact that his “personal, emotional and intellectual connection” with Colón yielded, including how it “would propel the Afro-Cuban genre to new heights, even on a global scale.”

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In his tribute, Blades remembered the bright moments with Colón, from the Puerto Rican singer’s solo production work on a PBS television show to how he supported his early political stances, including one particular Miami performance of anti-imperialist anthem “Tiburón.”

“Regarding our personal differences, I’ll say that these exist and will continue to exist in every type of relationship,” Blades wrote, adding, “I will always feel affection for Willie, even though I don’t understand why he decided to sue me.” He also called out Colón’s social media presence later in life, which included many MAGA talking points and pro-Trump posts. “And although his support and sympathy for the most deceitful, narcissistic, and racist politician the United States has ever seen also bothered me, none of this affects the reality of what we managed to create musically, nor does it erase or cancel my affection for him, the positive memories, the laughter, the struggles, triumphs, difficulties, and sacrifices we shared,” Blades said.

He continued to emphasize his overall appreciation for the salsa singer: “Despite everything, my admiration for Willie and my respect for his work will never disappear, and I will never allow hatred to be a part of our past relationship. Blades highlighted the pair’s ability “to present and solidify messages of unity and possibility, of truth, solidarity, and hope, in salsa songs to the entire world, receiving massive popular support, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.”