When did Eddie Palmieri’s brother Charlie Palmieri die? All about the family as legendary Latin pianist dies at 88

Eddie Palmieri, who is the younger brother of music director and pianist Charlie Palmieri, has passed away.

Eddie Palmieri and his brother, Charlie Palmieri, who passed away on September 12, 1988, were both trailblazing musicians who contributed to Latin music in the US in their own way. The Grammy-winning pianist was known for his path-breaking contributions to Latin music, and his death was confirmed by his youngest daughter, Gabriela Sebastian Palmieri. She stated that the celebrated musician died on August 6 at his home in New Jersey after a period of extended illness.

A statement was released on his official Instagram page. It read:

"Eddie Palmieri, legendary pianist, composer, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in Latin music history, passed away in his New Jersey residence on Aug 6, 2025, at the age of 88. He was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Iraida Palmieri, whom he lovingly called ‘Mi Luz Mayor,’ his constant companion and greatest source of strength."

Eddie Palmieri rose to fame in the 1960s with his music that combined traditional jazz with Afro-Caribbean sounds. Influenced by his brother, Charlie Palmieri, he formed a band known as La Perfecta and went on to win ten Grammy Awards in various categories over the years. In 2013, Palmieri was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy for his outstanding contributions to Latin music.

More about Charlie Palmieri's family, as his brother passes away

Charlie Palmieri was born on November 27, 1927, to parents Carlos Palmieri and Isabel Maldonado Palmieri, who had immigrated to New York in the mid-1920s. According to The New Yorker, his mother came to the US in 1925 after leaving her hometown of Ponce in Puerto Rico. Just a year later, his father, Carlos Palmieri, also arrived in the US, and in 1936, his younger brother, Eddie Palmieri, was born.

Palmieri's family lived in Spanish Harlem for the next few years, after which they shifted to the South Bronx, where both brothers began their first piano lessons and also learned more about Afro-Cuban and Latin music from their uncle, who had his own band, named El Mambo.

Apart from the outside influences that helped develop Eddie Palmieri's music style, it was his older brother, Charlie Palmieri, who had influenced his sound. Charlie Palmieri had mastered the art of playing piano from a young age, having been admitted to the prestigious Juilliard School by his parents.

According to The New York Times, Charlie Palmieri, who rose to become an esteemed Salsa pianist in his own right, passed away at the age of 60 from a heart attack while admitted to the Jacobi Hospital in New York. Before his death, Charlie Palmieri had suffered another heart attack, which made it difficult for him to control his hands and play the piano, a problem he eventually overcame. At the time of his untimely death, his mother, Isabel, was still alive, and he was survived by his wife, Esther, and three children

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Eddie Palmieri, on the other hand, was married to Iraida González Palmieri, to whom he was married for almost sixty years until she died in 2014. The couple shared a loving relationship, and Palmieri lovingly called his wife "Mui Luz Mayor," a term that translates to "My Greater Light," and he even composed a song of the same name that was dedicated to her.

Eddie Palmieri, who was eighty-eight years old at the time of his death, is survived by his five children (four daughters and one son) and four grandchildren.

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