Febuary 5, 2019

Anani Kaike

Today Febuary 5, 2019 would have been Daniel Santos’s 103rd birthday . I feel that it is very important to acknowledge him and his music today. Daniel Santos was another singer I have always heard the voice of. He was also another one of my grandfather’s favorite singers so his music is special to me.

Daniel Doroteo Santos Bentancourt was born on Febuary 5, 1916 in a very poor section of Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1924 when Daniel was 8, his parents and sisters traveled to New York to escape the poverty that surronded them and in search of better opportunities.

Daniel’s musical career started in 1930 as he was singing in his family’s apartment and a member of the ‘Trío Lírico’ heard him and knocked on his door, offering to pay him a dollar for every song he sang, (at that time it was good money). He was 14 at the time. Santos’s career grew and he became very popular in both New York and Borinquen. He spent several years in Cuba performing and recording with the Sonora Mantancera. During this time he donated a large amount of money to support the Cuban Revolution.  He also composed a song called “Sierra Maestra” and some of the lyrics were from a revolutionary song. In 1948 Daniel Santos was arrested after he got into a fight. He was released, but decided to stay several extra days so he  could celebrate Christmas with the other prisoners.

He traveled and toured around Puerto Rico, South and Central America for many years and recorded many albums. Daniel Santos was legally married 12 times. He died in Ocala, Florida at the age of 76. He is buried in Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan. Due to a lack of space in the cemetery he is buried with his childhood friend Eladio Peguero commonly known as “Yayo el Indio”.

I dedicate this article to Daniel Santos. May he never be forgotten and may his music always be remebered and embraced. May Daniel Santos continue to assist his family from the World of the Ancestors. To the memory and music of Daniel Santos.