Fernando Echevarria died on October 11, 2015.

He was a Dominican singer-songwriter.

He achieved both local and international fame several decades ago at the head of the group La Familia Andre band.

Fernando completed his architecture degree, and is considered to be the father of “fusion,” which he defined as a mixture of Afro-Antillan melodies such as samba, cumbia and plena with genres like jazz and rock, overlaid on the basic rhythms of son and merengue.

He has produced songs like De Oro,” “Marcela” and Pato Robao

The musician was living and worked in Miami before settling once again in the Dominican Republic, where he gave periodic performances like the one scheduled on the day of his death.

Fernando received the honored at the Luna Awards in the South American country for being the international artist with most influence on Colombian music in the past 20 years.

His music is popular in Latin American countries, more so in Colombia.

He left behind his two children and his 90-year-old mother.

Fernando Echevarriapassed away at 62 due to a suspected heart attack while he waited to preform at the De dominicana pa’l mundo” concert,