Google Doodle celebrates Tito Puente - with video honouring 'King of Latin music'

Latin music legend Tito Puente features in today’s Google Doodle – in honour of the Hispanic Heritage month in the US.

Google Doodle is celebrating Tito Puente’s life

Earning the nickname the King of Latin Music, Tito Puente was born in Harlem, New York, and became well known for his multi-hyphenated music that featured upbeat and tropical compositions.

He is widely known for popularising the growth of Latin music in the United States.

Puente mastered more than ten instruments and served in the Navy during World War II by playing alto saxophone as the ship’s bandleader.

He led his first orchestra in the late ‘40s, and by the 1950s, he became an unrivaled master of timbales and vibraphone. In 1969, he was bestowed the key to New York City.

The Google Doodle today features his first recorded soundtrack, Ran Kan Kan and showcases his childhood at 110th Street and Third Avenue in Spanish Harlem, as well as his time in the navy. The animation also shows a young Punete banging on pots and pans in his room bedecked with a Puerto Rican flag. The video shows his rise to fame, ending on the street named in his honour and his face amongst the stars.

He penned popular hits such as “Oye Como Va,” which was famously covered by Santana as well as “Mambo Gozón” and “La Guarachera”

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 by celebrating the history, culture, and contributions of American citizens whose roots trace back to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

A year ago on September 15, 2021, aTito Puente Monument was unveiled in East Harlem to celebrate his legacy.

The Puerto Rican artist, who died in 2020, was recognized at the first-ever Latin Grammy Awards. The Harlem street where he grew up was also renamed after him – as Tito Puente Way.