Walfredo de los Reyes Sr., the Cuban-born musician who created a bigger beat by blending hand percussion instruments from his native country with the modern drum set, died Thursday in Concord, California, his family announced. He was 92.
During his six-decade career, de los Reyes performed with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, Tito Puente, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Cachao, La Lupe, Rita Moreno, Juliet Prowse, Ben Vereen, Bernadette Peters, Dionne Warwick and Debbie Reynolds, and he spent decades on stages throughout Las Vegas.
Two of his sons, Walfredo Reyes Jr. and Daniel de los Reyes, are percussionists with Chicago and the Zac Brown Band, respectively, and a granddaughter, Lilliana de los Reyes, is a vocalist and percussionist now performing with guitarist George Benson.
His “rhythm, joy and spirit will live on through his family and the countless musicians he inspired around the world,” the family said in a statement.
Another of his sons, actor Kamar de los Reyes, known for his work on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and in Call of Duty video games, died on Christmas Eve in 2023 after a brief battle with cancer.
Born in Havana on June 16, 1933, de los Reyes came from a lineage of musicians — his father, trumpeter Walfredo de los Reyes II, helped found the Casino de la Playa orchestra, which bridged Cuban popular music and the sound of American big bands starting in the 1930s.
De los Reyes Sr. went on to pioneer techniques that inspired generations of drummers as a musician and an educator, and he received the Gon Bops Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. His story is preserved through the NAMM Oral History Program with an interview that was recorded in 2011.
Survivors also include his wife, Debbie; his daughters, Lillian and Ildemarie; another son, Johnny; and his other grandchildren, Charlene, David, Antonio, Natalie, Christian, Christopher, Joseph, Gabriel and Daniel.
Details regarding a celebration of life event will soon be disclosed.
