Drummer / Percussionist Birthday Calendar

Tito Puente, born Ernesto Antonio Puente on April 20, 1923 in New York City, New York, was an American salsa percussionist and Latin jazz composer, best known as a timbale player for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that endured over his 50-year career.

Puente is often credited as "The Musical Pope," "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the timbales) and "The King of Latin Music."

With a legacy of recording over 100 albums and creating more than 200 compositions, Puente received six Grammy Awards as well as numerous other awards during his music career.

Tito Puente died on May 31, 2000; he was 77. He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.