Luis Felipe Rodríguez, better known as Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez, (May 8, 1926 – May 26, 1999) born in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was found ...

, was a singer of

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

s. He is regarded as the most popular Puerto Rican male singer of the 1950s based on record sales and live audience records. Many of Rodríguez's recordings are often considered to be classics in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

.Puerto Rican Popular Culture
/ref>

Early years

Rodríguez was born in the Savarona section of Caguas, the son of a sharecropper and a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

. He had a rough childhood; his father died before he was born. In 1930, his mother Carmen moved to Santurce and settled in Barrio Obrero, a working class district of San Juan. There, Rodríguez went to school and practiced his singing skills during his free time. Julito Rodríguez (no relation to Felipe), another bolero singer, heard Rodriguez sing and invited him to form a singing duo; they later they formed a trio called "Los Romanceros" (The Romanceers) and he first took part in a radio program, the popular amateur showcase ''"Tribuna del Arte"'', hosted and produced by Rafael Quiñones Vidal.

"La Voz" (The Voice)

In 1950, Rodríguez left the trio and tried different projects, such as forming or joining other trios (particularly the ''Trío Los Antares''), duos (he formed the "Dúo Pérez-Rodríguez" with his then wife, and continued his professional relationship with her long after their divorce) and singing solo. He was given the nickname, "La Voz" (The Voice), a name which was to stay with him for the rest of his life, by Puerto Rican radio announcer Mariano Artau.

Héctor Lavoe Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (30 September 1946 – 29 June 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe is considered to be possibly the best and most important singer and interpreter in the history of salsa ...

's stage name was based on Rodríguez's nickname.Music of Puerto Rico
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United States tour

Rodríguez went on tour in the United States where he broke the attendance and ticket records previously set for the

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

audience by Argentine singer

Libertad Lamarque Libertad Lamarque Bouza (; 24 November 1908 – 12 December 2000) was a Mexican-Argentine actress and singer, one of the icons of the Golden Age of Argentine and Mexican cinema. She achieved fame throughout Latin America, and became known as " ...

. In 1954, Rodríguez met Pedro Ortíz Davila ("Davilita") and formed a very successful duo performing in such places as the Teatro Puerto Rico. Even though "Davilita"'s voice was not as sharp as it was when he was younger, they were able to have many hits together, particularly the Pedro Flores song ''"La Rosa Blanca"'' (The White Rose). In the 1960s, they, together with

Rafael Cortijo Rafael Antonio Cortijo (December 11, 1928 – October 3, 1982) was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, composer and percussion instrument craftsman. Early Career As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and enjoyed th ...

and

El Gran Combo El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it was often considered Puerto Rico's most successful musical group. The ...

confronted the new wave of rock music which was invading the island head-on. In 1965, Rodríguez became the first Puerto Rican to sing the Puerto Rican national anthem,

La Borinqueña "" (from the native name of Puerto Rico, ''Borinquen'' or ''Boriquen''), ) is the official anthem of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, sig ...

, at a sporting event, celebrated at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, where fellow Puerto Rican José "Chegui" Torres won the World Light Heavyweight

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

title in a fight against Willie Pastrano which was televised coast to coast in the United States. Rodríguez had himself been an amateur boxer in his youth as well as an occasional referee at amateur boxing matches, and was a scout for young boxing talent.

Radio Show

Back in Puerto Rico, Rodríguez started his own radio program at radio station WITA-AM in San Juan, called ''"Éste es tu disco"'' (This is your record). In 1973, Rodríguez and Davilita paired again to record "''Canciones de Pedro Flores''" and in 1974, "''Canciones de Rafael Hernández''". Also in 1974, Felipe Rodríguez, Davilita and Pellin Rodríguez (no relation to Felipe) recorded a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

which also are considered as Christmas classics in Puerto Rico. These were "''La Protesta de los Reyes''" (The Protest of the Wisemen), "''Parranda parrandera''" ( Parrandous Parranda) and "''Navidad''" (

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

Recordings

In 1952, he recorded the following songs: *"''La Ultima Copa''" (The Last Drink)

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

recorded as a bolero (and one of several such

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

hits Rodríguez and others recorded), *"''Golondrina Viajera''" (Traveling Swallow), *"''Los Reyes no Llegaron''" (The

Three Wise Men 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...

did not Arrive), a poignant Christmas song written by Esteban Taronjí, and *"''Esta Navidad''" (This Christmas) all of which became hits and are now considered as classics in Puerto Rico.

Later years

In the 1980s, Rodríguez continued to record and had hits with "''Por Primera Vez''" (1983) (For the First Time) and "''Juntos otra Vez''" (1986) (Together Again). In 1987, he was able to realize one of his dreams when he performed at the Luis A. Ferre Center for Performing Arts in San Juan. In the 1990s, Rodríguez continued to be active as a singer and when not singing he would be at the recording studio producing. Later in the 1990s, he suffered a fall from a step ladder in his home in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over ...

, which hurt his back. Eventually the fall complicated with a

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and contributed to his death. Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez died on May 26, 1999 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

Legacy

The city of Caguas named the main auditorium of its own Center for Performing Arts as the Felipe Rodríguez Hall. A book written by music historian Pedro Malavet Vega "''La Vellonera esta directa''" has been written, chiefly about Rodríguez's life, and using his career trajectory as a backdrop and timetable for many other cultural and sociological events that occurred in Puerto Rico between the late 1940s and early 1960s.