by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Ralph Mercado
SALSA VISIONARY: Ralph Mercado, a top promoter and manager who represented some of Latin music’s best ~known acts and helped solidify a New York-born genre, died following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 67.
Mercado died March 9 at a New Jersey Hospital. He had been ailing since undergoing brain surgery last year.
As the top salsa manager, he represented such genre superstars as Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barreto, Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. With his own label, RMM Records, he helped launch the careers of the likes of Marc Anthony, Domingo Quiñones and Tito Nieves.
Born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, he began organizing dances as a teenager. Soon after, he was booking top Latin acts at a local club. He formed his first management, booking and promotions company, Showstoppers, representing such R&B acts as Gladys Knight and the Pips and Aretha Franklin.
He moved to Manhattan at the time of a salsa explosion led by a group of artists signed to the Fania label He booked the Fania A11 Stars at the legendary Cheetah club, the venue of the collective’s landmark live album of the70s.
In 1972 he formed Ralph Mercado Management and continued holding a weekly dance at New York’s Palladium through 1992. That year he formed the record company, signing many of the artists of the then-defunct Fania label.
He was able to book his artists in Europe, Asia and Africa, helping to make dejasalsa a truly international phenomenon. At the height of his career, he also owned two publishing companies and created Yo soy.. . del son a la salsa, a documentary that chronicled the creation of the genre.
Emilio Navaira
Mercado is survived by his wife and five children. A public viewing was held March 12 in New York prior to a private funeral
TEJANO STAR SENTENCED: Emilio Navaira will spend three days in jail and serve two years on probation after pleading guilty last week to driving while intoxicated. In 2008 he wrecked his tour bus in a freeway accident outside Houston.
The Grammy-winning singer wore a protective helmet for his head injuries at the March 13 court hearing in Houston. “In (pleading guilty) I hope to begin the process of restoring my life. I accept full responsibility for my actions and the consequences of those actions from the accident,” he said in a statement.
Known to fans as Emilio, the musician will have to serve a compulsory 30 days under custody, including the three behind bars and the remainder under house arrest. He will have surgery to insert a plate to replace missing portions of his skull in the coming weeks. Hispanic Link.
