Andrés Montañez (born May 7,1942), better known as Andy Montañez, is a famous salsa singer from Puerto Rico. Montañez, like singer Daniel Santos and boxer Ossie Ocasio, is a native of the Tras Talleres area of Santurce San Juan. He is known by the nickname "El niño de Tras Talleres". He is the first born out of 17 children.

Montañez first gained fame as a member of the internationally successful El Gran Combo group, with songs like "Hojas blancas" (White Leaves), "Un verano en N.Y." (A Summer at NY), "El barbero loco" (The Crazy Barber), "Julia", "Ponme el alcoholado, Juana" (Rub Me With Alcohol), "Vagabundo" (Bum), "El Swing", etc. He stayed for approximately 15 years, producing 37 LP's. After leaving El Gran Combo, he enjoyed considerable success on an international scale with his own orchestra, touring Latin America and the United States several times. He represented Puerto Rico at the 1992 World's Fair in Seville, Spain.

Two of Montañez's sons have also gone on to become salsa singers.

In recent years he had teamed up with fellow salsa singer Ismael Miranda to produce some boleros and bohemian music. By 2005-06 he's creating a new blend between salsa and reggaeton, called salsaton, along with rappers like Daddy Yankee and Julio Voltio. In 2007 he filmed various television advertisements on nutrition for the Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs (including one in which he sang a rhumba to a dancing carrot).

In November 2, 2006, Montañez won his first Latin Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Album, together with Pablo Milanés.

Andy Montañez performing live his salsa classic "Un Verano en Nueva York" with El Gran Combo!



Any Montanez performing live "Vagabundo"



Andy performing one of his classics "Casi Te Envidio"
 

Pictures provided by Djpepe.com, Xza.us; videos powered by Youtube.com