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On October 21, 1925, Celia Caridad Cruz y Alfonso was born in the Havana neighborhood of Santos Suárez. The daughter of a stoker and a housewife, she grew up in a large family where her voice stood out from a young age. Although she studied teaching, she left her career to train at the National Conservatory of Music.
He made his debut on the Havana station Mil Diez. Thanks to his participation in radio programs like "La Corte Suprema del Arte" from CMQ, a cornerstone of entertainment in 1940s Cuba, and "La hora del té," he began to stand out in the Cuban music scene. He won contests and received awards.
In 1948, she joined the group Las Mulatas de Fuego as a singer, achieving great success and performing in Mexico and Venezuela.
In 1950, she joined Sonora Matancera, the most popular and successful musical group in Cuba at that time, where she remained for 15 years. With them, she traveled across all the countries of Latin America, where she was introduced as La Guarachera de Cuba. From that era, unforgettable songs like "Caramelos," "El yerbero moderno," "Tu voz," and "Ritmo, tambó y flores," among others, emerged. Her song "Cao, cao, maní picao" became a hit, and another subsequent track, "Burundanga," brought her to New York in April 1957 to receive her first gold record.
In 1960, he decided not to return to Cuba and began his career in exile with his group, working in Mexico. A year later, he moved to the United States and signed a contract in Los Angeles.
In 1962, following the death of his mother, he was once again denied permission to enter the island. His music was censored and banned from radio and television stations from that point on, making him a symbol of resistance against the Cuban regime, which still in 2025 canceled the tributes prepared to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
Shortly thereafter, she married Pedro Knight, the trumpeter of the Sonora and her inseparable partner, who would become her manager when she decided to start her solo career alongside the legendary percussionist Tito Puente, with whom she would record 8 albums.
In 1973, she became a pioneer of salsa by performing at Carnegie Hall in New York with Larry Harlow on the song "Gracia Divina." This marked the beginning of a glorious period that led her to major international stages, facilitating the genre's global expansion, such as the legendary concert of the Fania All-Stars at Yankee Stadium. From that era comes her iconic song "Bemba Colorá."
In the 80s, he reunited with the Sonora Matancera and recorded the album Feliz encuentro, in addition to receiving his first tribute at Madison Square Garden in New York. In 1985, he participated in "Cantaré, cantarás," alongside the leading figures of Latin music. In 1987, he held a historic concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest free outdoor show, gathering 250,000 people.
In 1990, Celia Cruz was able to return to Cuba, invited to perform at the naval base in Guantánamo. When she left, she took a handful of soil in a bag, the same soil she requested to be placed in her coffin when she died.
In the final years of his career, he continued to solidify his legacy. In 1998, he released Mi vida es cantar, which includes the iconic song "La vida es un carnaval." In 1999, he participated in the concert Pavarotti and Friends, alongside the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. He was a key figure at the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, where he also received his first award.
Throughout his career, he accumulated 12 nominations and 4 Grammy Awards, as well as 7 nominations and 5 Latin Grammys. In 2016, he received the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, and in 1994, President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest cultural honor in the United States.
Beyond music, Celia also explored acting: in 1992, she made her film debut in *Los Reyes del Mambo* alongside Antonio Banderas, and the following year she appeared in the Mexican telenovela *Valentina*.
In 2001, with the album Siempre viviré, she won her second Latin Grammy thanks to her salsa version of I Will Survive. In 2002, she released La negra tiene tumbao, where she dared to fusion salsa with rap and hip hop, which earned her
Her last public appearance in March 2003 was a tribute where she sang the song "I Will Survive" alongside Gloria Gaynor and other stars just a few months before passing away on July 16 of that same year from a brain tumor.
Today, one hundred years after her birth, Celia stands as the most important and universally significant female figure in Cuban popular music, playing an active role in the transformation of the island's music in the 20th century. Friends, family, and chronists of the time highlight her natural talent, discipline, intelligence, respect for work, punctuality, complete dedication to her endeavors, and the simplicity of her character as traits of her personality that led her to triumph and global recognition.
Her battle cry, "Sugar!" was born in a Cuban restaurant in Miami when a waiter asked her how she wanted her coffee, and she replied, "With sugar, boy, how could you even ask me that!"
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