2025 hit like a telenovela plot twist, taking legends we grew up watching. These Latina icons didn’t wait for permission. They owned stages, screens and playlists from Miami to Mexico City. Fans still say, “They changed everything,” because they did. Their art sticks with you when the lights go out. You feel it. We remember their drive, their laughs and the way they made every moment louder, brighter and bolder. Here is a list of Latino celebrities who died in 2025.
Leo Dan – 1 January 2025
January hit hard when Leo Dan died at 82. You probably know his voice from “Cómo te extraño mi amor” or “Te he prometido.” More than 40 million records sold since he kicked off in 1963. Your mom might’ve danced to him, your aunt probably cried to him.
Emilio Echevarría – 4 January 2025
Emilio Echevarría, 80, who made El Chivo unforgettable in Amores Perros (2000), has died, the Mexican Academy confirmed. Born July 3, 1944, in Mexico City, he once crunched numbers for Televisa before swapping accounting for acting. His advice feels aimed at you: “At the first rehearsal, I knew that that was the most pleasurable calling and work I could do.” He later popped up in Y tu mamá también, Babel, and Die Another Day.
Alma Rosa Aguirre – 27 January 2025
Alma Rosa Aguirre spent decades charming Mexico, then slipped away at 95 with friends by her side at Casa del Actor on Jan. 27. Born in Ciudad Juárez in 1929, she jumped into movies at 16 after a beauty contest win. More than 30 films later, fans still cheer her as María Luisa in El Pecado de Ser Mujer and as Claudia in Nosotras las sirvientas. She quit acting in 1960 to raise a family. Came back briefly in the ’70s. Then bowed out like a legend.
Felix Cumbé – 11 February 2025
Félix Cumbé — born Critz Sterlin in Haiti — spent over 40 years turning merengue and bachata into a passport between two cultures. Fans blasted “El Gatico” at every party because his voice just knew how to have fun. He lived undocumented in the Dominican Republic for decades, yet became family to the nation. “He kept his humility,” Manuel Peralta said. After a May 2024 stroke, he tried to bounce back. He was 60 when he died on Feb. 11 and was buried Feb. 13 at Jardín Memorial.
Paquita la del Barrio – 17 February 2025
Paquita la del Barrio, born Francisca Viveros Barradas in Veracruz back in 1947, didn’t sugarcoat heartbreak. She turned cheating exes into lyrical target practice with hits like “Tres Veces te Engañé” and the legendary “Rata de Dos Patas.” Fans loved her for it. Her team confirmed she died at 77, saying, “Rest in peace, your music and legacy will always live in our hearts.”
Rubby Pérez – 8 April 2025
Rubby Pérez, born March 8, 1956, wanted baseball until a car accident changed everything. Good thing he picked up a guitar. Fans called him “the highest voice in merengue,” thanks to hits like “Volveré” and “Tu Vas a Volar.” Wilfrido Vargas said his “legacy transcends time and space” and “his voice… will continue to resonate.” At 69, he was still touring, joking about heading to Santo Domingo. “He was excellent,” one fan said.
Octavio Dotel – 8 April 2025
Octavio Dotel, 50, died on the way to the hospital after the roof of Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo collapsed during a Rubby Pérez show at 1 a.m. More than 100 people were killed and over 200 injured. His academy said he leaves “an indelible mark on all of us who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him.” The former Mets reliever won a World Series with St. Louis in 2011.
Mario Vargas Llosa – 13 April 2025
Mario Vargas Llosa packed 89 years with enough drama to fill his own novels. He started as a crime reporter at 15, then ran off with his 32-year-old aunt. His dad called it a “virile act”. He punched Gabriel García Márquez outside a cinema, ran for president in 1990, and joked the Nobel was “a fairytale for a week” but “a nightmare for a year”. He always said, “I am a writer, not a politician.”
Pope Francis – 21 April 2025
Pope Francis, 88, the soccer-mad Argentinian who spoke Spanish like your abuelo and backed migrants when nobody else wanted to, died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at 7:35 AM in Casa Santa Marta. “Dearest brothers and sisters… the Bishop of Rome… returned to the house of the Father,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell said. Fans can pay respects at St. Peter’s from April 23. Cardinals now plan the funeral.
José “Pepe” Mujica – 13 May 2025
José “El Pepe” Mujica went from robbing banks in Pando in 1969 to running Uruguay in 2010. Shot six times. Dug out of prison. Spent 12 years locked away. Then he legalized abortion, same-sex marriage, and marijuana. He donated most of his salary, drove an old Beetle, and told everyone: “Life is a beautiful adventure and a miracle.” You look at his story and wonder what excuses you’re still making.
Aurora Clavel – 19 May 2025
Aurora Clavel, born 14 August 1936 in Pinotepa Nacional, spent more than 100 roles stealing scenes on TV and in films like Tarahumara and Once Upon a Scoundrel. You probably remember her from telenovela favourites The Rich Also Cry and Wild Rose back in the 80s. She died in Mexico City at 88. Her sister Yolanda says she’d been sick and insisted, “she didn’t want any family members” near her toward the end.
Eddie Palmieri – 6 August 2025
Eddie Palmieri, born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, spent 75 years making you sweat on the dance floor. He once joked the dancer was “the real enemy,” because if they didn’t say “Oh, Eddie, that was terrific,” he hadn’t done his job. From La Perfecta in ’61 to Mi Luz Mayor in 2018, his 45 albums and 10 Grammys proved his point: “I know I’m going to excite you.”
Maricarmen Vela – 5 November 2025
Maricarmen Vela, the unforgettable aunt from El Chavo del 8, died at 87. The National Association of Actors announced it on Friday, November 7, saying, “Our condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues. May she rest in peace.” You probably remember her from Lazos de Amor or Abismo de Pasión. The post showed a youthful photo of her, full of attitude, though it didn’t explain what caused her death. Fans will miss her.
Eduardo Manzano – 4 December 2025
Eduardo Manzano, 87, made Mexico crack up long before memes existed. The “Los Polivoces” legend — famous for “El Show de los Polivoces” from 1971 to 1975 — died Thursday, Dec. 4. His son Lalo posted, “Today, the stage of life has lowered the curtain.” Manzano and Enrique Cuenca ruled ’60s cinema with characters so wild your abuela still quotes them. Lalo added, “Behind every joke was a tireless worker.”
Rafael Ithier – 6 December 2025
Rafael Ithier, the 99-year-old mastermind behind El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, built an orchestra that made salsa feel like the most natural thing on earth. He once joked about crying when drafted in 1952 — “I did not want to be a soldier” — but that Army discipline fueled decades of hits. From “Un Verano en Nueva York” to “Brujeria,” you hear a kid from San Juan who never stopped playing for his people.
