Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty
Tito Puente is an icon in the music game and to pay homage to his contribution to music and the legacy he left behind, Google will be honoring him by having a doodle of him greet users on their search page.
As reported by Variety the new Tito Puente cartoon on Google’s search page is now live and we have to say, we love it.
The animated doodle highlighting Puente’s musical career, illustrated by New York-based Puerto Rican artist Carlos Aponte, will be visible on the main page of the search engine throughout Tuesday (Oct. 11). The doodle coincides with U.S. Hispanic Heritage Month and also comes on the one-year anniversary of the unveiling of the Tito Puente Monument in New York City’s East Harlem.
Puente was a percussionist, composer, songwriter, recording artist and bandleader whose career spanned five decades. Puente has been called “El Rey de los Timbales” and “The King of Latin music,” having recorded some 118 albums and being credited on dozens more — more than any other timbales bandleader to date.
Tito Puente recorded over 118 albums. That number is ridiculous but the man did have talent so he might as well have gotten every ounce of it out for public consumption and consume we did. Born in New York City’s Spanish Harlem on April 20 1923, Tito began his career as a drummer in his teenage years before ultimately becoming a music legend and icon with a career that spanned five decades. The man basically dropped two albums a year in 50 years. That’s amazing in itself.
“Tito was part of my musical experience growing up in Puerto Rico,” Aponte said in a Q&A released by Google. “My aunt introduced me to Tito Puente via La Lupe, a famous singer in Puerto Rico and New York. Tito was like a Svengali for talents like Celia Cruz. He was a household name. So Tito was part of my Puerto Rican soundtrack.”
Check out the video for Google’s Tito Puente cartoon below and let us know your thoughts on how they’ve decided to pay homage to him in the comments section below.
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