Died On This Date (March 10, 2009) Ralph Mercado / “The Berry Gordy of Salsa”
themusicsover Ralph Mercado
September 29, 1941 – March 10, 2009
Ralph Mercado was a successful Latin music impresario who had his hands in many facets of the entertainment industry. He started out promoting Latin jazz shows in clubs throughout Manhattan, but it was just a matter of time before he was putting on Salsa shows at the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden. During the early ’70s, Mercado opened his own management company where he represented the likes of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. In 1987, he started his own label, RMM Records, the home to over 100 Latin artists. He sold the label to Universal Music in 2001. The success he achieved and the Salsa music dynasty he built lead to his being called “the Berry Gordy of Salsa.” On March 10, 2009, Ralph Mercado died of cancer at the age of 67.
Johnny Alf was a Brazilian singer and pianist who is rightfully considered the “Father of Bossa Nova.” During his formative years of learning to play music, Alf took a particular liking of the jazz of early America. He later married that music with the Latin rhythms he grew up with to form a new style, soon to be called Bossa Nova. His “Rapaz de Bem” and “O Tempo e o Vento” are considered the birth of Bossa Nova. Johnny Alf was 80 years old when he died of prostate cancer on March 4, 2010.
Lhasa de Sela was an acclaimed Mexican American folk singer songwriter who although born in New York and raised in Mexico, spent most of her adult life split between Canada and France. That multi-National background mixed beautifully throughout her music. De Sela released her first album, La Llorona, in 1997, and though sung completely in Spanish, it incorporated elements of South American, Mexican, Eastern European gypsy and alternative rock. Embraced by fans and critics alike, the album won her a Best Global Artist Juno award in 1998. That album was followed by The Living Road in 2003 and Lhasa in 2009. Her albums have sold in excess of 1 million copies combined. In 2005, the BBC World Music Awards named her the Best Artist of the Americas. Lhasa de Sela died of breast cancer on January 1, 2010.
Desi Arnaz was a world famous Cuban-born singer, musician, band leader, television actor and producer who became a household name thanks to his starring role in the 196os sitcom, I Love Lucy. Arnaz was playing guitar for 
