The band -- founded by the late Rafael Ithier -- has placed more than 40 songs on the Tropical Airplay chart, including 15 top 10s.

Leading the acclaimed salsa group El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, he brought the music of his native island to a worldwide ...

Rafael Ithier, a beloved musician and a founder of the legendary salsa band El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, whose hits have inspired Bad Bunny and other icons, has died ...

Puerto Rican musician Rafael Ithier, who was known as the founder of the orchestra band El Gran Combo, has passed away.

Rafael Ithier, the dynamic and congenial Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader who founded renown salsa band El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and was its leader for decades, died Sunday (Dec. 7) in Puerto ...

The pianist, composer and arranger spent more than six decades turning El Gran Combo into one of the premier salsa ...

Rafael Ithier, a Puerto Rican pianist and the founder of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, passed away on Saturday, December 6, due to health complications.

Founded in 1962 by Ithier, who was for many years the pianist and musical director of the orchestra, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico was born out of the breakup of Rafael Cortijo y su Combo, with some ...