Tito Puente, who was formally born Ernest Anthony Puente, Jr. was born on April 20, 1923. He was born and raised in a section of New York City known as the Spanish Harlem. His father, Sr., worked in a razor blade factory, while Ercilia Puente, Tito's mother, noticed his son's musical talent as she enrolled him in piano lessons for 25 cents when he was seven. As child he also went to dance lessons and played baseball until …showed first 75 words of 640 total…

…showed last 75 words of 640 total…Grammy's showed that Puente was at the top of his game. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary degree at Columbia University and also was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame. On May 31, 2000, in New York he died while undergoing heart surgery at the age of 77. My suggestions for improvement are in the concern of my teacher, she wished that I would have had more facts about his personal and middle life.