Yeison Jiménez Was One of the Most Influential Artists in Colombian Regional Music

Colombian singer Yeison Jiménez, one of the country’s leading exponents of popular music, died Saturday when the small plane he was traveling in crashed in a rural area of ​​the department of Boyacá (central Colombia), authorities reported.

“The Civil Aeronautics Authority deeply regrets this tragedy and expresses its sincerest condolences to the family, friends and followers of Mr. Yeison Jiménez, as well as to the families of the other occupants and the crew,” the entity said in a statement.

That agency confirmed in a statement that the artist was one of the six people who were on board the small plane that crashed between the towns of Paipa and Duitama while flying to Medellín and that was burned to a crisp.  Jiménez, 34, born in Manzanares, in the department of Caldas, in the center of the country, was one of the most influential artists of Colombian regional music in the last decade and a key figure in the expansion of the popular genre beyond the traditional circuits. 

Photograph taken through tracking of firefighters and rescuers’ networks near a small plane that crashed this Saturday, in a rural area of ​​the department of Boyacá (Colombia).

According to the Boyacá Departmental Government, in addition to the artist, the pilot, Captain Hernando Torres, and passengers Juan Manuel Rodríguez, Óscar Marín (Jiménez’s assistant), Jéfferson Osorio (the singer’s representative), and Weisman Mora also lost their lives in the accident.  “The Government of Boyacá deeply regrets this event and stands in solidarity with the families, loved ones and followers in these difficult times,” the statement said, adding that a departmental mourning period had been declared.  Colombian President Gustavo Petro lamented the accident, stating that there were no survivors: “Unfortunately, six people have died in a plane crash that apparently caught fire in flight, near Paipa,” the president said on X. 

Jiménez had performed on Friday in the town of Málaga, in the department of Santander, and had a performance scheduled for Saturday night in the municipality of Marinilla, in the department of Antioquia, near Medellín, as part of his artistic agenda.   Songs like ‘Aventurero’, ‘Vete’ and ‘Mi venganza’ established him as one of the most popular performers in Colombia.  In 2021 he was recognized as a Latin breakthrough artist by Billboard magazine and in recent years he has managed to fill large venues in the country, including the Movistar Arena in Bogotá, a milestone for a genre historically associated with smaller spaces. 

A voice of popular music is silenced: Yeison Jiménez died in a plane crash