| El Cantante | |
| Type: | Single |
| Artist: | Héctor Lavoe |
| Album: | Comedia and Doble Filo |
| Language: | Spanish |
| English Title: | The Singer |
| Genre: | Salsa |
| Length: | 10:23 |
| Label: | Fania |
| Producer: | Willie Colón |
"El Cantante" is the 1978 signature song of Puerto Rican salsa singer Héctor Lavoe and first single of the album Comedia. The song was written by Rubén Blades and produced by Willie Colón.[1] The 2006 movie about Lavoe's life, El Cantante, takes its title from the song. In 2024, the song was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In late 2004 Puerto Rican singer Ángel López released a cover of the song as a solo artist after being the lead singer of the group Son By Four. His version had airplay success in the U.S. Tropical Charts by Billboard.[2]