Colombian Singer Yeison Jiménez Dies At 34 In Plane Crash

Yeison Jiménez, a popular figure in the regional Colombian music scene, died in a plane crash on Saturday, Jan. 10. He was 34.

A local government agency that deals with air traffic and accidents, the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics, confirmed that a private aircraft carrying six passengers, including the pilot and Jiménez, with the registration number N325FA crashed near Paipa and Duitama in the Colombian state of Boyacá. There were no survivors.

María Fernanda Rojas, Colombia’s minister of transportation, posted a video on social media informing the public that local and national authorities were collecting evidence and investigating the crash.

Videos of the accident surfaced on social media, showing the plane taking off and quickly losing control before the wing and nose of the plane crashed onto the runway.

The singer-songwriter’s social media page confirmed Saturday evening the deaths of Jiménez, Jefferson Osorio, Juan Manuel Rodrígiez, Óscar Marín, Weisman Mora and the pilot, Fernando Torres.

“Today, we don’t only say goodbye to an artist; we say goodbye to a son, a brother, a friend, a human being full of dreams and courage, who transformed his story into hope for thousands of people,” said attorney Victor Hugo Hernández and Fredy Santos, Yeison’s administrative manager, in a statement posted on the artist’s social media page. “Yeison embodied perseverance, discipline and love for his community. His voice and his example were born from hard work, and that is why they will forever touch the lives of those who followed and loved him.”

The statement from the artist’s team went on to thank those who reached out and asked people to respect the families of those who lost their lives.

Jiménez’s team added that details of tributes honoring the artist’s memory will be announced soon. “Yeison is gone physically, but his legacy remains, in his songs, in his words, in his struggles, in his refusal to give up and in the indelible mark he leaves on regional Colombian music and in the hearts of his people. His light will continue to shine every time someone sings one of his songs and remembers that it is possible to overcome adversity.”

Jiménez broke into the local music scene in 2015 with the album Con el Corazón, and he became a major voice in música popular, a folk genre in Colombia that is influenced by music from other Latin American countries, especially Mexico. The Manzanares native garnered more than 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and one of the biggest hits of his career was 2018’s “Aventurero,” which amassed more than 400 million streams across all platforms.

The Colombian star was also a hit on the road. One of his most successful outings was performing three nights at Movistar Arena in Bogotá, where he grossed $1.32 million and moved 30,927 tickets, according to Pollstar Boxoffice.

Jiménez is survived by his wife and three children.