Rafael Ithier, the musician who shaped the backbone of modern salsa and founded El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, has died at 99.
According to Telemundo, news of his death was confirmed on Saturday, December 6, by family attorney Víctor Rivera and quickly reverberated across the Puerto Rican music community and beyond.
Long before salsa became a global genre, Ithier was building its framework from the inside out. As arranger, composer, director, and bandleader, he turned El Gran Combo into a musical institution—one whose sound still echoes through contemporary Latin music.
As recently as August 2025, Bad Bunny publicly cited El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico as one of his biggest influences on The Today Show, naming the group alongside Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, and Juan Gabriel.
Born on August 29, 1926, in San Juan’s Puerta de Tierra neighborhood, Ithier began a professional career in music in the early 1940s. He got his formal start with the Hawaiian Ensemble led by Fermín Machuca, where he learned the Cuban tres and double bass—tools that would later help define El Gran Combo’s layered, unmistakable arrangements.
El Gran Combo was formed in 1962 alongside musicians Rogelio “Kito” Vélez, Héctor Santos, Martín Quiñones, and Miguel Ángel Cruz. Ithier eventually became the orchestra’s director and guiding force, overseeing a catalog that helped establish salsa’s golden era.
Songs like “A Mi Manera,” “Achilipú,” “Se Me Fue,” “El Menú,” “Brujería,” “No Hago Más Ná,” “Ojos Chinos,” and “Un Verano en Nueva York” became staples not just on the island, but across Latin America and the U.S.
Ithier’s life extended beyond the stage. In 1952, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served during the Korean War. While deployed, he founded The Borinqueneers Mambo Kings, later rejoining the group in New York after completing his service.
Tributes flowed in following the announcement of his death. “Today the salsa universe loses one of its most important pillars in the history of the genre,” Victor Manuelle wrote in a social media post. “Your legacy and your music will continue to be valid in all of us who make this genre that we call salsa.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez echoed that sentiment, calling Ithier “a giant of our music and the soul of El Gran Combo,” adding, “His talent shaped our culture and took our rhythm around the world.”