Iconic Dominican singer and songwriter Johnny Ventura, one of the greatest exponents of merengue, died from a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 81.
The legendary singer was pronounced dead at Santiago’s Clínica Unión Medica del Norte in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic's president, Luis Abinader, declared three days of mourning following his death and announced that the late singer would receive military honors.
The late musician was born Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano on March 8, 1940, in Santo Domingo. He was a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader, and arranger of merengue.
In 1959, he took the name of Johnny Ventura and launched his career performing in several bands that presented themselves at the dances in La Feria. He created his own band, the Combo Show, in 1964, which added visual flair and new instrumentations to the genre and is known as an important part of the history of popular Dominican music.
Ventura served as mayor of Santo Domingo from 1998 to 2002, changing his nickname from El Caballo Negro to El Caballo Mayor.
The iconic musician contracted the coronavirus and was hospitalized in March 2020. He recovered from the disease and reported negative test results in April of that year.
Shortly before his death, Ventura shared an Instagram video of himself dancing with a fan, captioned, “I miss the human warmth of my audience. Let’s continue to protect ourselves to return to normality soon.”
The merengue legend is survived by Nelly Josefina Flores, his wife of 50 years and seven children, 17 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
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