In 2002, 52-year-old Nilda “Puchi” Lavoe fell out of a window in her apartment. We don’t know much about her life outside of the fact that she was married to the famous salsa singer Hector Lavoe, but we’ll look at what we do know, including how she died too soon.
Hector Lavoe’s Wedding
Al Aaronson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images took this photo. | Singer Hector Lavoe at a Latin show at Madison Square Garden.
Hector and Nilda got married after Nilda found out she was going to have a baby. It was Hector’s second child, and Nilda reportedly told him she was pregnant on the night of the baptism of his first child. Soon after, they got married, and they stayed together until Hector Lavoe died. During that time, the couple went through a lot of bad things and both of them used drugs.
During the time that Hector and Puchi were married, their son was killed in a gun accident, and their first home burned down. Both had to jump out of a window to get away from the fire, which broke both of their legs. Nilda’s mother was stabbed to death in Puerto Rico around the same time. After being told he had AIDS in 1988, Hector tried to kill himself by jumping out of a 9th-floor window. In the end, he died in 1993 from AIDS. Nilda stayed in New York until the day she died.
“El Cantante”
After her husband died, Nilda Lavoe worked to get his story out to more people. Nilda took a screenplay to Jennifer Lopez’s production company and insisted that they tell the story of her husband and have J.Lo play her in the movie. Jennifer Lopez and Nilda had recorded interviews to find out her story for the movie, and many of these interviews ended up in the final version of “El Cantante.”
Through the eyes of Hector Lavoe’s wife, “El Cantante” told the story of how he became one of the best-known salsa singers. Their relationship was a big part of the 2007 movie, which came out in 2006.
The movie made $8 million around the world, and reviews were mixed. Willie Colón, who worked with Hector for many years, wrote about the movie: “The real story was about Hector fighting against the obstacles of an unsupportive industry that took advantage of entertainers with his charisma and talent. Instead, they made another movie about two drug addicts from Puerto Rico.”
Reason for dying
Before “El Cantante” was finished, Nilda Lavoe died when she fell backwards from a 14th-floor window. The official cause of her death was said to be severe head injuries from the fall.
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