Post-Prison
Santiago played several shows outside prison while he served his sentence. Santiago earned over $100,000 from those presentations. By the time he left prison, the bank account holding the earnings of his presentations while in prison had about $2,500 left. Shortly after Santiago found out, he divorced his wife.
Even though Santiago’s fame waned a bit by the time he finished his prison sentence, he was able to keep a busy schedule by touring in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.
Santiago also appeared on Puerto Rican TV several times, often as a comedian in Luisito Vigoreaux's produced TV shows.
Santiago rejoined Valentín in 1991 to record new versions of old songs he did with Valentín for a CD commemorating Valentín’s 25th anniversary in the music business. Santiago also participated on a concert celebrating Valentín’s 25th anniversary, later released on DVD.
Santiago last studio album with Valentín, “Donde Lo Dejamos”, was released in 1992. By this release it was noticeable that Santiago's voice was starting to fade and becoming hoarse and raspy due to poor vocal coaching.
In 1999, the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico had a tribute at the Capitol Building to honor Santiago’s musical career.
In 2000, Santiago participated on the theater play “El Hospitalillo” at the Carmen Delia Dipiní Theater gathering critical acclaim.
In August 2000, Santiago participated in Tommy Olivencia's 40th anniversary celebration as a bandleader at the Tito Puente amphitheater, in San Juan, P.R. The concert was recorded and released on CD the following year.
In July 2001, a few of his musical colleagues organized a tribute concert to Santiago. The concert was held at the Tito Puente amphitheater and some of the performers sharing the stage with Santiago were Vitín Avilés, Carlos “Cano” Estremera, Meñique, Guillo Rivera & Luigi Texidor
In 2002 Santiago joined the all-star roster of singers and musicians that took part of Bobby Valentin’s 35th anniversary live concert held at the Río Piedras State Penitentiary. Among the all-star lineup were Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, Pedro Guzmán, Giovanni Hidalgo, Papo Lucca, Roberto Roena & Luigi Texidor. The concert was filmed and released on DVD.
For a few years until early 2003, Santiago shared a popular radio program every Saturday night with JC “El Babalao” Cordero. The program, “Salsa Gorda”, featured Salsa music from the 1970s and 1980s.
In March 2004 a tribute concert was held at the Tito Puente amphitheater, in San Juan, P.R. by several musicians to celebrate Santiago’s musical career. Among the performers were Luisito Carrión, Oscar D’León, Elías Lopes, Andy Montañez, Luis “Perico” Ortíz & Domingo Quiñones. The concert was filmed and released on CD and DVD.
In May 2004 Santiago was part of the singers and musical colleagues that participated on a tribute concert dedicated to the 45th anniversary of Tommy Olivencia musical career.
Santiago, who adopted Marvin Hagler's "Marvelous" nickname (both because of their common first name and the fact that, at one time, his head was shaved bald like Hagler's), had begun conversations to join a Fania All-Stars comeback as a tribute to Celia Cruz by the summer of 2004, but then, he became severely ill.
Santiago's diabetes started taking a toll on his health during the 1990s. In October 1996 Santiago had his right leg amputated after having three toes amputated in three separate occasions a few months earlier. He also started having problems with his sight. In November 2002 Santiago suffered two heart attacks followed by a major kidney failure in February 2003. After the kidney failure incident, Santiago had to undergo dialysis treatment. Santiago’s name was placed on a waiting list for a kidney transplant but was not able to get a donor. Santiago lost vision from one eye and suffered severe kidney, heart and liver damage on the weeks prior to his death. On the afternoon of October 6, 2004 after many years of health issues, Santiago died at the San Pablo Hospital in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. His funeral was well attended by the public and music friends, with his brother Billyván paying a Plena tribute to Marvin.
Read more about this topic: Marvin Santiago