NORFOLK, Va. — Willie Colón, the musician and social activist who helped pioneer Salsa music in the 1960s and 70s at Fania Records, is currently being treated at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital following a motor home crash on North Carolina's Outer Banks.
According to a statement posted to his Twitter account, Colón and his wife Julia were seriously hurt on the afternoon of April 20 when their motor home crashed.
Julia suffered cuts and contusions and has been released from the hospital in Nags Head, but Willie was transported to Norfolk General to be treated for injuries that include a concussion, lacerations to the scalp, and fractures to his vertebra.
The statement said he is in serious but stable condition. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Colón was born in the South Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents and as a teenager signed with Fania Records, a record label that promoted Latin and Salsa music. Colón became a part of the label's supergroup Fania All-Stars, performing to sellout crowds and creating hit albums.
Colón has also been a political activist, running for office numerous times in New York City and has been a vocal critic of the Venezuelan government.
