Tito Puente is by far the most noted and cherished American celebrity of Hispanic descent alive today. His fifty year reign over Latin music has been decorated with four Grammys , honorary doctorates, featured roles in television and major motion pictures, countless worldwide appearances, performances and an abundance of accolades and honors bestowed on him by his peers and admirers alike. Tito Puente is a true living legend. Prolific as he is famous, his hit records and compositions have become classics in Latin music as well as in other popular genres. " Oye Como Va " and "Para los Rumberos " were big hits for rock music legend, Carlos Santana. Tito Puente's albums "Top Percussion," "Dance Mania," "Puente in Percussion," "Cuban Carnival," "El Rey " and "El Numero Cien " are essentials on any collectors list. Musically, he has collaborated, recorded or performed with many of the greatest names in Jazz and Latin music including: Frank " Machito " Grillo , Mario Bauzá , Woody Herman, Jose Curbelo , Phil Woods, Tito Rodríguez , Dizzy Gillespie, Noro Morales, George Shearing, Cal Tjader,Mongo Santamaría , Lionel Hampton, Maynard Ferguson, Max Roach, Gloria Estefan , Willie Bobo , La Lupe and Celia Cruz. He has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and four honorary doctorate degrees, one of each from the State University of New York at Old Westbury, Long Island University, Bloomfield College in New Jersey and Hunter College in New York City.

In addition to his four Grammy awards and 10 Grammy nominations, Tito Puente has received a Presidential Commendation for his tour of duty in W.W.II, the Eubie Blake Award from the National Academy of Arts, the Smithsonian Medal of Honor, the ASCAP Founders Award and the Washington, D.C.'s Hispanic Heritage Committee Award for the Arts. He has had the honor of performing for four Presidents of the United States and countless foreign heads of state. In July 1996, Tito Puenteperformed before the largest gathering in history of the International Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA.

At this his 50 year career milestone, Tito Puente shows no signs of creative fatigue. To the general public, Tito is well known for his various television and motion picture appearances. He has been featured on television programs like: "The Bill Cosby Show," "The Simpsons ," "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "Sesame Street." He has also appeared in the feature film based on the award winning novel by Oscar Hijuelos , "The Mambo Kings" and in Woody Allen's "Radio Days." Born Ernesto Anthony Puente, Jr. on April 20, 1923 in New York City to parents who had just arrived from their native Puerto Rico, young Tito was nurtured in East Harlem's "El Barrio" neighborhood that served as a cultural crossroads for Latino youth. Surrounded by the urban sophistication of the world's most cosmopolitan city, Puente and his friends were none-the-less strongly influenced by an island culture that maintained its love of tropical music and the mother tongue. " Ernestito " grew up with one ear tuned to boleros and rumbas while the other one strained to hear the great swing bands of the day and an emerging jazz tradition.

Tito Puente's music education began with twenty five cent piano lessons, followed by study of the drum set. Singing with a local barbershop quartet followed, as did dancing lessons. With his younger sister Anna, Puente performed as one half of a child song and dance team in the early 1930's. "I pride myself on being one of the few band leaders who really knows how to dance," he says. The background in dance cemented his sense of rhythm and encouraged the development of the extroverted personality and flamboyant stage presence for which he would soon be known, traits that helped lift him form the ranks of sidemen to star status by the late 1940's.

It was clear from an early age that percussion would become Tito Puente's dominant form of musical communication. He learned the basics from the Afro-Cuban drummer in a New York band called "Los Happy Boys," his first big break coming when W. W. II began to heat up and the regular drummer in Machito's famous big band was drafted into military service, allowing Puente to take his place. Tito's skill and technical competency paid off right away. For perhaps the first time in Latin music history, the timbales were brought to the front of the bandstand, and Puente played the drums standing, not seated, as had been the custom. That simple change of routine liberated the rhythm section and opened the door for the flashy style of performance that in time would become the norm.