The son of two Puerto Ricans, Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. was born Tito Puente in Manhattan on April 20, 1923. Puente was drawn to drums and percussion at a young age and frequently created improvised drums out of pots and pans. He kept pursuing his interest in music by taking piano lessons and dancing with his sister. Tito Puente was drafted into the US Navy in 1942, during World War II. He faithfully served his country in the war for three years, and for its work aboard the USS Santee, his unit received the Presidential Unit Citation.
Tito Puente returned to the workforce and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he studied music theory, conducting, and orchestration. Puente expertly performed Latin and Afro-Cuban musical genres including cha-cha and son throughout the 1950s, at a time when the United States was experiencing a "mambo frenzy." Today's most well-known Tito Puente tune is "Oye Cómo Va," from 1962, which Santana memorably covered in 1971.
Naturally, Puente never lost his initial interest in percussion and frequently performed on his signature instrument, the timbales, a type of drum set that is distinctive to Latin American music, especially Cuban music. The timbales used by Tico Puente to perform during the 1996 Summer Olympic closing ceremony are now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Complications from a heart attack caused Tito Puente's death on June 1, 2000. The Tito Puente Monument was unveiled on October 11, 2021 in East Harlem, New York City, which may be the reason Google chose this day to celebrate the illustrious bandleader. Google's commemoration of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the US, which takes place from September 15 through October 15, includes today's Doodle for Tito Puente.
