Hard day for the world of music. Juan José Rodríguez, known to everyone as ‘El Puma Junior’, has died at the age of 53. The artist called himself that because he claimed to be the son of the singer José Luis Rodríguez, better known as ‘El Puma’. However, he never recognized him as a descendant. The death was announced by the daughters of the Venezuelan singer, Liliana Rodríguez Morillo and Lilibeth Morillo, supposed sisters of Juan José. The channel through which they have shared the news has been through social networks.
“As a family, we share the painful and unfortunate news of the death of Juan José Rodríguez ‘El Puma Jr.’ in Pereira, Colombia. The causes of his death are still unknown and the respective investigations will be carried out,” the sisters expressed through a publication on their Instagram profile. “We humbly request due respect in this difficult time that we are experiencing as a family. We will honor your life and your memory, our beloved Juan José Puma Jr.,” they expressed, begging for privacy at this time.
Few details have emerged about this early death. The family assures that they do not know the reason for death. “The causes of his death are still unknown and the respective investigations will be carried out,” reads the statement shared by the supposed sisters of the deceased, who was never recognized by his father.
The case of father and son has been the most followed in Latin America, because although the artist never recognized his son, the physical resemblance between the two is a fact. Until the moment of his death, Juan José maintained that he was the son of the interpreter of I have the right to be happy. Despite these statements, his supposed father assured in 1995 that Juan José was actually the son of his brother, Oswaldo.
“My brother Oswaldo is very passionate and told me that he had recognized that boy. If he belongs to the family it makes me happy. If my brother recognized him it means that he has the last name,” he said in an interview for the newspaper Tiempo. But this was not the last mention that the Venezuelan made about his supposed son. “There is a boy out there who claims to be my son, but he couldn’t stand DNA, so he isn’t either. I know who I was with, I have a good memory,” he said on the Argentine program Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand about a year ago.
Despite these words, the deceased artist did maintain a good relationship with ‘El Puma’s’ daughters. Both have appeared completely broken after his death. “Dear brother of my heart. I can now say that I know what it is to have a brother,” said Liliana. “You are the best version of Rodríguez that there was and that there will be and we are going to miss you very much.” “Dear brother of my heart, you left unexpectedly because that was you, you always came as a surprise to brighten our lives… Sing and fly,” Lilibeth expressed totally devastated.
