Johnny Ventura, the famed merengue pioneer and former mayor of Santo Domingo, died Wednesday at the age of 81 in the Dominican Republic. His son, Jandy Ventura, confirmed to CNN that he died after ...

FILE PHOTO: Dominican singer Johnny Ventura poses backstage during the 14th Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - Legendary Dominican merengue singer Juan de Dios "Johnny" Ventura ...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The music world is mourning the loss of a merengue legend. Dominican singer and former Mayor of Santo Domingo, Johnny Ventura, died Wednesday at the age of 81.

Ventura (pictured in 2013) served in the Dominican congress and in 1998 was elected mayor of Santo Domingo, then a city of more than 2 million people (AFP/Getty) Johnny Ventura, a Dominican singer who ...

Johnny Ventura, the singer, bandleader, composer and arranger who shaped the sound of modern merengue in the 1960s, keeping its tropical rhythms while speeding up the tempos and borrowing from rock ‘n ...