Wilfredo José Chirino, known artistically as Willy Chirino, is a Cuban singer-songwriter and music producer residing in Miami. He was born on April 5, 1947, in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, Cuba.
In 1961, Chirino emigrated to the United States. In 1962, he formed a rock band called The Whailers and later moved to New York, where he worked with Julio Gutiérrez, Tito Puente, and other renowned musicians.
In 1974, he recorded his first album, One Man Alone, followed by more than 40 productions. Willy Chirino is one of the creators of the Miami Sound, which emerged from the fusion of rhythms brought by musicians and orchestras that emigrated and performed in Miami during the 70s and 80s. Chirino's music encompasses salsa, merengue, Cuban music, rumba, rock, and other fusions of Caribbean rhythms.
He has shared stages with Celia Cruz, Arturo Sandoval, David Bisbal, Oscar de León, Baby Lorens, among others, and his compositions have been recorded by other singers such as Raphael with his famous "Escándalo," Ricardo Montaner, Celia Cruz, etc. As a producer, he has also produced albums for Raphael, Rocío Jurado, Magneto, and others. He has owned his own record label, Latinum Music, Inc., since 1997.
In 2014, he received a Latin Grammy Award for Excellence.
Chirino is one of the most beloved and influential artists in the Cuban community, not only for his music but also for his humanitarian work and his involvement with Cuban balseros, for which he has received notable accolades.
In 1994, following the so-called Balseros Crisis, thousands of Cubans took to the sea, and the United States temporarily placed them in camps while immigration authorities processed them. Chirino visited several of those centers in Panama and Guantanamo. His song "Ya viene llegando" became the anthem of a generation yearning for freedom, especially for the balseros detained in these makeshift shelters that welcomed him with open arms.
Regarding his most famous song, which is from the album Oxígeno that became very popular in Cuba in 1991, Willy commented in an interview with Alexis Valdés: "I wrote Ya viene llegando as a form of release, of therapy." "I never really imagined what that song would become because I didn't write it with that intention; I just wanted to share a bit of my life," said the singer.
In 2010, he collaborated on the recording of the Latin version of the song "We Are the World," alongside many well-known Latin faces, with the proceeds directed to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
In 2013, alongside Gloria Estefan, she lent her voice to the Conecta Cuba campaign, an effort to provide free internet access to the majority of Cubans.
Recently, following the release of the film La Red Avispa, Chirino has made headlines for his statements against the film, which he has labeled as an infamy, particularly because of the role assigned to Basulto and the organization Hermanos al Rescate: "I knew José Basulto and his family very well. He is a decent man, brave, a patriot who has immense courage and has fought extensively for Cuba, for Cuba's freedom. He has saved thousands of lives in the Florida Straits with his organization, Hermanos al Rescate. I had the opportunity to fly with them and witness their work firsthand."
