Headshot for Joe Bataan

Joe Bataan

Joe Bataan’s real name is Peter Nitollano. Of African American and Filipino descent, the singer grew up in Latin Harlem, where he began his career, drawing on his personal experiences from the streets.

With his natural gift for music and self-taught abilities on the piano, he got his first band together in 1965. He had his first hit, “Gypsy Woman,” on the Fania Records label in 1967. The song took the New York Latin market by storm, despite the fact that the lyrics were in English.

A distinguished composer and the producer of the vast majority of his albums, Joe brought to his discography a series of innovations, such as the fusion of rhythms influenced by Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. He made a name for himself as the driving force of Latin soul and pop soul. He also anticipated disco, a genre he would later influence, and one that would influence the new tendencies of bands and orchestras.

Joe Bataan was not only able to carve out a place of honor on the charts in the US and Latin America; he also took the European market by storm.