What is the nickname of salsa singer Ismael Rivera?

Ismael Rivera’s nickname was El Sonero Mayor.

The Spanish title means “the major sonero” or “greatest sonero,” referring to Rivera’s exceptional command of sonero singing: improvised, rhythmically responsive vocal lines in Afro-Caribbean music. He was also widely known as Maelo.

Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1931 and became famous through his partnership with Rafael Cortijo and Cortijo’s Combo. Their recordings helped bring Puerto Rican bomba and plena into mainstream popular music while Rivera’s improvisational style made him a defining voice of early salsa.

A common mix-up is treating Maelo as his only nickname. Both names are correct, but El Sonero Mayor is the distinctive honorific this question asks for. Accounts commonly credit Cuban producer Ángel Maceda with giving Rivera the title, although other stories attribute it to Benny Moré.