With his impeccably polished repertoire of love songs, his suave yet engaging manner and his trademark moustache, Eddie Santiago may not seem like a radical innovator. But that’s just what the Puerto Rican singer was in the Latin music world of the ’80s when his hits as frontman for the salsa group Conjunto Chaney and early solo successes like “Tú Me Quemas” established a wildly popular new take on a traditional sound. Together with producer Frank Torres and arranger Tommy Villariny, Santiago helped forge the template for salsa romántica. This new genre maintained salsa’s vibrancy and energy while slowing down the tempos and sweetening up the results with more prominent pop melodies and opportunities for the romantic crooning that was Santiago’s forte, thanks to his warm and versatile voice. The style reversed salsa’s decline in popularity during merengue’s ascent and made Santiago a superstar in the Spanish-speaking world—and one of the few Latin singers of his day to connect with audiences beyond it. On his 1999 album, Celebración, he again showed his ability to revitalise familiar sounds when he performed his most famous hits as duets with Charlie Zaa, Elvis Crespo and many other Latin greats who followed his lead. Though Santiago’s own recordings have been rare in the years since, the lasting impact of the sultry and swoony style he helped popularise can be heard in the smoothest salsa ballads of Marc Anthony and Luis Miguel.