{"id":251097,"date":"2026-04-29T14:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/251097\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T14:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:03:09","slug":"willy-chirino-gets-honorary-doctorate-in-music-at-fiu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/251097\/","title":{"rendered":"Willy Chirino gets honorary doctorate in music at FIU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WILLYCHIRINOPINES.JPG\"   width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" title=\"Willy Chirino performs onstage during the 2025 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honoring Raphael on November 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)\" alt=\"LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 12: Willy Chirino performs onstage during the 2025 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honoring Raphael on November 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Willy Chirino performs onstage during the 2025 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honoring Raphael on November 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)<\/p>\n<p>                Leon Bennett<\/p>\n<p>            Getty Images for The Latin Recor<\/p>\n<p>Never too late.<\/p>\n<p>Willy Chirino just got an honorary doctorate in music at Florida International University. DId we mention he\u2019s 79?<\/p>\n<p>FIU President Jeanette Nu\u00f1ez did the honors and acknowledged Chirino\u2019s 50-year-plus career.<\/p>\n<p>The pioneer of \u201cMiami Sound\u201d arrived in Miami at the age of 14 as part of Operation Pedro Pan and has since released over 20 albums. His 1991 song \u201cYa viene llegando\u201d (1991) is an anthem for Cuban exiles, with his works banned from state media on the island \u201cNot only for all he has done in music but also for the cause of freedom,\u201d she said. \u201cOur students understand the significance of these values deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDream it and it will happen,\u201d the salsa\/merengue great told the students body on Monday. \u201cBut don\u2019t dream small, dream as big as you possibly can, without limits. I stand before you as living proof that it can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Latin music icon ended the speech, shouting in defiance, \u201cViva, Cuba libre!\u201d Free Cuba!<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644725\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777471389_986_headshot.PNG\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Madeleine Marr\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644725\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Madeleine Marr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>            Celebrity\/real time news reporter Madeleine Marr has been with The Miami Herald since 2003. She has covered such features as travel, fashion and food. In 2007, she helped launch the newspaper\u2019s daily People Page, attending red carpet events, awards ceremonies and press junkets; interviewing some of the biggest names in show business; and hosting her own online show. She is originally from New York City.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Willy Chirino performs onstage during the 2025 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honoring Raphael on November&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-251097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}