“I am aware that I am a rooster for history,” he assured in October 2019 THE SPOKESMAN the singer Tito Rojas, whose remains will be on display at the Marcelo Trujillo Panisse Coliseum, in his hometown of Humacao, possibly from tomorrow to Wednesday.
Julio César Rojas López, his first name, died suddenly on December 26, at the age of 65, in the residence of some cousins in that municipality.
Rojas’s body was supposed to be picked up yesterday afternoon by the funeral home of the Institute of Forensic Sciences. The vigil schedule is set today, in a meeting that the congregation holds in the morning with the so-called Gallo-salsa family.
“The vigil will be open to the public, with the necessary physical distance and limitations from Covid-19. The public goes in and out, they cannot stay (in the colosseum). So far we’re on that, we’ll see if that’s what the family wants, ”said Daphne D. Flores, communications advisor to Humacaeño Mayor Luis Raúl Sánchez Hernández, who announced five days of mourning that will end next Wednesday.
On the other hand, according to his promoter and friend, Ángel Ilarraza, for nearly three decades, was a heart patient, and his brother died of that health condition.
He saw his mother near Texas. His cousins live on the same street, he went to their house, he started to feel bad and when he went to the balcony he collapsed, “he explained. THE SPOKESMAN.
It’s worth noting that on December 24, Tito premiered the Christmas special Canta Gallo, canta and Navidad on his YouTube channel, featuring songs from his 20-year-old album entitled Canta Gallo, canta.
About the beginning
The artist had a 48-year artistic career, and as Ilarraza recalls, he started professionally in music at the age of 17.
“He started with Pedro Conga and the Orquesta Internacional, with which he recorded his first album. Later he was with Justo Betancourt and El Conjunto Borincuba. When Justo went to New York, Tito stayed with the band and formed the Conjunto Borincano. From there he went to Puerto Rican Power and then as a soloist with Musical Production — such as between 1991 and 1992 — until 2008, when he left independently, which formed his TR Records label, ”said the promoter.
The most recent song recorded by Rojas was El pasito tun tun, along with the Billo’s Caracas Boys, which he never heard on Puerto Rico’s radio waves. Before that he made Por la calle del medio together with Gilberto Santa Rosa for his album entitled Colegas.
In his words
In August 2015, Tito spoke with THE SPOKESMAN about his artistic and musical evolution, which he attributed to his tenacity through thick and thin.
“This has been my total evolution, to be persistent in this race, not to give up, not to turn my arm and to keep working unconditionally,” he said.
He also said he wouldn’t change anything in his life or career because “I wanted this and it touched me. I have to accept things as they are, sometimes people try to change or when I change I am not the cock and that has kept me firm. Musically I feel more mature, although they get older, which is natural because I am 60 years old ”.
Four years later, in October 2019, he responded to this newspaper about how he wanted to be recognized in the history of salsa, having just released the record production Un gallo para la historia (nominated for the Latin Grammy 2020).
“I don’t miss them at all, you have to ask people, idols, Marc Anthony, India and they will tell you, ‘El Gallo es el Gallo.’ To make a title like that you need pants, no one can make such a title. I am aware that I am a rooster for history ”, he stated with his characteristic humor.
Rojas is survived by his wife Ivelisse Escobar, his daughters Jessica and Kisha, and his grandchildren Briana, Julián and Amanda.