Tito Gómez (born Humberto Luis Gómez Rivera, April 9, 1948, in

Juana Díaz Juana is a Spanish female name. It is the feminine form of ''Juan'' (English ''John''), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. The feminine diminutive form (male equivalent to ''Johnny'') is Juanita (equival ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

– June 11, 2007, in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) was a Puerto Rican

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

singer.

Group career

His musical career started at the age of 15 singing with the Conjunto Antoanetti before joining the Sonora Ponceña as co-lead vocalist in 1967. In 1973 Ponceña trumpeter Joe Rodriguez, percussionist Mikey Ortiz and Gómez broke away and formed La Terrifica. Later, Gómez joined

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

's band sharing vocal duties with

Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

, most notably on the 1975 ''Barretto'' album.''Los Angeles Times'' "Tito Gomez, 59; vocalist for popular salsa bands" June 14 2007
/ref> The following year he returned to La Sonora Ponceña where he remained for two years. In 1979 he moved to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

to join La Amistad, a short-lived project with former members of La Dimension Latina. In 1982 he went solo once again and returned to Puerto Rico. In 1985, he joined

n band

Grupo Niche Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Cali, Colombia. It enjoyed great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Varela remained with the group throughout his life, serving as producer, dir ...

, relocated to Colombia, and sang lead vocals with them for eight years.

Solo career and death

He went solo in the early 1990s making seven albums in nine years for

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

-based Musical Productions. His debut ''Un Nuevo Horizonte'' included a hit single "Dejala" featuring

Tito Rojas Julio César "Tito" Rojas López (June 14, 1955 – December 26, 2020), also known as "El Gallo Salsero", was a Puerto Rican salsa singer and songwriter. Early years Tito Rojas was born and raised in the town of Humacao, Puerto Rico, which is ...

. Allmusic "Tito Gomez"/ref> Gómez's musical career came to a temporary end when he was convicted for transporting

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

money in the United States in 2000, serving time in a

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

. Upon release in 2004 went back to Puerto Rico to his hometown Juana Diaz and relaunched his solo career. He was in the middle of a reunion tour of Colombia with Grupo Niche when he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on June 11, 2007, in

. He was buried in his hometown of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico at the Juana Diaz Municipal Cemetery.

References

1948 births 2007 deaths People from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers Salsa musicians {{Caribbean-singer-stub