Willy Chirino

                                                WILLY CHIRINO

Willy Chirino was born in Cuba in the small town Consolación del Sur, in the cuban province of Pinar del Rio. His father was the town’s State Attorney and his mother was a pharmacist who worked at home. He was the only boy in his family (he had three sisters). His town did not have any crime and was very peaceful; the worst thing that happened was someone trying to steal medicine from their house. He lived a calm life in this town for fourteen years.

When he was 13 years old, his family migrated to United Sates through "Operation Peter Pan", this migration opportunity was designed to give Cuban children a different vision of the world and avoiding them "falling into the hands of a dictator" . This US government sponsored program in conjunction with the Catholic Welfare Bureau transported 14,000 Cuban children from Cuba to the United States.
Over 20 original albums have been released, several of which have obtained platinum and gold status. In 2006, his album “Son del Alma”, won a GRAMMY for Best Salsa/Merengue Album. As founder of the Willy Chirino Foundation, his philanthropic efforts have been recognized by UNICEF and the Department of State. Willy celebrates his 35th Anniversary in music with his latest released album “Willy Chirino Live-35th Anniversary” (“Willy Chirino En Vivo-35 Aniversario”), a CD/DVD combo of his 35th Anniversary Concert. This album brought him his first nomination at the 2007 Latin_Grammy_Awards for best Salsa Album. Most recently, Willy and singer/song writer, and wife Lissette Álvarez, released their first ever duets album Amarraditos (Bound to One Another). The CD includes a potpourri of classic Spanish language love songs.
He was first married to Olga Maria Rodriguez and they had three daughters, Angie, Olga Maria and Jessica. He later married the singer Lissette Álvarez and had three more children, Nicole, Alana, and Gianfranco.