Humberto "Tito" Nieves (born June 4, 1958; also known as "El

Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

de la Salsa") is a Puerto Rican musician who became one of the leading

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 ...

singers of the 1980s and the early 1990s.

Early life

Humberto "Tito" Nieves was born in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

, Puerto Rico, and raised in the United States.

Career

Nieves began his career while participating in Orquesta Cimarron, a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

–based group. In 1977, he teamed up with singer

Héctor Lavoe Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (September 30, 1946 – June 29, 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican salsa music, salsa singer. Widely regarded as one of salsa’s most important and influential vocalist ...

and his Orchestra and joined the

Conjunto Clasico The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...

. Later, Nieves started his solo career in 1986, setting himself apart by singing salsa in English. He is known for his hits such as "El Amor Más Bonito", "Sonámbulo", and the English-salsa hit, "I Like It Like That" (1996). Hits from the album ''Fabricando Fantasias'' included "Fabricando Fantasias" and "Ya No Queda Nada" with

La India Linda Bell Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), known professionally as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the L ...

Nicky Jam Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer. He is best known for hits such as " X", " Travesuras", " El Perdón", " Hasta el Amanecer", and " El Amante"; the latter three are from his 20 ...

, and

K-Mil Lilian Maranet, known as K-Mil or K-Mill, is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican reggaetón singer-songwriter and record producer. She began her career in 2003 with "Quien Tiene Mas Flow", a song which was featured on Luny Tunes and Noriega (pr ...

. He attended

Xaverian High School Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school. History T ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, where he played in a Spanish-language band named Makondo. Though he left before graduating, he was given an honorary diploma in 1994. The main producer and musical director for most of his recorded albums was Sergio George (1988–1993, 2001–2008, 2012–2013, 2018–2020). In 2007, he released ''Canciones Clasicas De Marco Antonio Solís'', a tribute to Mexican singer,

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing with his cousin Joel ...

. On August 12, 2021, Tito Nieves was the featured

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

on Norberto Vélez's

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channel titled "Sesiones Desde La Loma Ep. 19".

Personal life

Tito Nieves was married to his first wife Wanda Vazquez, and had their son Ommy Nieves, who died of bone cancer at the age of 24. He later married Irma Nieves and had Humberto Nieves, Jr. Tito dedicated the song, "Fabricando Fantasias", to his deceased son. Tito married Janette Figueroa on January 28, 2017, in Puerto Rico.

Solo albums, singles and projects

* ''The Classic'' (RMM 1988) * ''Yo Quiero Cantar'' (RMM 1989) * ''Déjame Vivir'' (RMM 1991) * ''Mambo King 100th LP – Tito Puente'' (RMM 1991) – track "Nuestro Amor" * ''Rompecabeza – The Puzzle'' (RMM 1993) * ''Perfecta Combinacion – Familia RMM'' (RMM 1993) – track "Tu Por Aqui Y Yo Por Alla" with Tony Vega * ''I Like It Like That Soundtrack Vol. 2'' (Sony Discos 1994) – track "I Like It" with The Blackout All-Stars * ''Dicen Que Soy – India'' (RMM 1994) – track "No Me Conviene" with India * ''Un Tipo Común'' (RMM 1995) * ''Recordando a Selena – Familia RMM'' (RMM 1996) – track "No Me Queda Mas" * ''Tribute to the Beatles – Familia RMM'' (RMM 1996) – track "Let It Be" with Tito Puente * ''La Jungla Latina – Tres Equis'' (RMM 1996) – track "Ritmo, Sabor Y Salsa" with Miles Peña & Guianko Gomez * ''Watermelon Man – Charlie Sepulveda'' (TropiJazz/RMM 1996) – track "Hola" with Charlie Sepulveda * ''De Todo Un Poco – Ray Sepulveda'' (RMM 1997) – track "La Dama De Mis Amores" with Ray Sepulveda * ''I Like It Like That'' (RMM 1997) * ''Serie Cristal Greatest Hits'' (RMM 1997) * ''Dale Cara A La Vida'' (RMM 1998) * ''The Sir George Collection'' (Sir George/WEA Latina 1998) – track "I Like It" * ''Clase Aparte'' (RMM 1999) * ''Asi Mismo Fue'' (RMM 2000) * ''En Otra Onda'' (WEA Latina 2001) * ''Arjona Tropical'' (Sony Discos 2001) – track "Tu Reputacion" * ''Muy Agradecido'' (WEA Latina 2002) * ''Temptation – Brenda K. Starr'' (Sony Discos 2002) – track "

Por Ese Hombre "Por Ese Hombre" (For That Man) is a song originally recorded by Argentine duo Pimpinela and Spanish singer Dyango for the former's fifth studio album, ''Lucía y Joaquín'' (1985). It was covered by American singer Brenda K. Starr and Puerto Ri ...

" with Brenda K. Starr & Victor Manuelle * ''25° Aniversario con Conjunto Clasico'' (WEA Latina 2003) * ''Fabricando Fantasías'' (SGZ 2004) * ''Edicion Especial – Ismael Miranda'' (SGZ 2005) – track "Eterno Nino Bonito" with Gilberto Santa Rosa & Ismael Miranda * ''Hoy, Mañana, y Siempre'' (SGZ 2005) * ''Soy Diferente – India'' (SGZ 2006) – track "No Es Lo Mismo" with India * ''Canciones Clasicas De Marco Antonio Solís'' (La Calle 2007) * ''En Vivo'' (La Calle 2007) * ''Dos Canciones Clasicas De Marco Antonio Solís'' (Machete/Universal 2008) * ''Entre Familia'' (ZMG 2010) * ''Mi Última Grabación'' (TNM 2011) * ''Que Seas Feliz'' (Top Stop 2012) * ''Mis Mejores Recuerdos'' (Top Stop 2013) * ''En Dos Idiomas'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2015) * ''Canciones Que No Se Olvidan'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2017) * ''Navidad A Mi Estillo'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2017) * '' New Tradiciones'' (Bridge Music, District Eleven, Provident Distribution 2017) – track "Aires de Navidad" with

Adrienne Houghton Adrienne Eliza Bailon-Houghton (née Bailon (); born October 24, 1983) is an American television personality, singer, and actress. She is a former member of the girl groups 3LW and the Cheetah Girls. From 2013 to 2022, Bailon was a co-host o ...

* ''Una Historia Musical – with Sergio George'' (Nu America 2018) * ''Voy a Extrañarte'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2020) * ''Si Tu Te Atreves'' with Daniela Darcourt (Tito Nieves Creations 2020) * ''Trancao'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2020) * ''Colegas – Gilberto Santa Rosa'' (InnerCat 2020) – track "La Familia" with Gilberto Santa Rosa * ''Legendario'' (Tito Nieves Creations 2021)

References

External links