Celia Cruz

Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad de la Santísima Trinidad Cruz Alfonso, Celia Cruz's full name, was a famous and renowned Cuban singer born in Santo Suárez on October 21, 1925. According to biographers, she showed singing talents and a passion for music since childhood. Her father wanted her to become a school teacher, but her mother supported her in pursuing her dream of becoming a singer.

In its early days, he participated in several radio programs such as: La Corte Suprema del Arte, a contest on the CMQ station that aimed to discover new vocal talents, Radio Cadena Suaritos, where he made his first recording alongside Obdulio Morales.

In 1948, she joined as a singer the dance group Las Mulatas de Fuego, founded by Rodrigo Rodney. With them, she began to achieve success and pursue a career outside the island, touring Mexico, Venezuela, and in 1949, traveled to Capernaum (Israel).

In 1950, the singer of La Sonora Matancera, Mirta Silva, returned to her homeland, Puerto Rico, and Celia passed the auditions to replace her. She was part of this group for 15 years and toured throughout Latin America. Some of the well-known songs from this period of hers include the following: El yerbero moderno, Burundanga, Ritmo tambó y flores, Caramelos, La sopa en botella, Tu voz, Pa' la paloma, Vallán vallende, among many others.

In 1960, she traveled to Mexico with La Sonora to fulfill the obligations of a contract and did not return to the Island. In 1961, Celia moved to the United States, where she lived until her death in 2003 due to a brain tumor.

In 1966, Tito Puente, with whom she recorded several albums, invited her to join his orchestra, thus starting her career as a soloist. Her representative would be her husband, the trumpeter Pedro Knight, with whom she had married in 1962.

Throughout his extensive and prolific discographic career, he worked for several record labels: Tico Records, Masucci Vaya Records (which represented a musical shift in favor of salsa), FANIA, Barbara Records, Sony Music Entertainment, RMM Records, among others.

Among his most memorable performances are the concert in 1975 at Yankee Stadium, recorded live with The Fania All-Stars and directed by Johnny Pacheco, the one in 1982 at Madison Square Garden where he was honored for his successful music career. He also participated in the year 1999 in the concert Pavarotti and Friends held in Modena.

In 1990, he gives a concert in Guantánamo. From here, he took a little bit of soil that he requested to be placed in his coffin when he died.

His concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1987, attended by 250,000 people, is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest outdoor concert.

She was nominated thirteen times for the Grammy Awards and six times for the Latin Grammy Awards. In total, she won five times: in 1989 in the Best Tropical Latin Performance category for the album "Ritmo En El Corazón" with Ray Barreto, in 2000 for Best Salsa Album for "Celia Cruz and Friends", in 2001 for Best Traditional Tropical Album for "Siempre Viviré", in 2002 for Best Salsa Album and Best Tropical Song for "La Negra tiene su tumbao", and posthumously in 2004 for Best Salsa Album for "Regalo del alma" (an album she never got to see) and Best Tropical Song for "Ríe y llora".

She was recognized and awarded on multiple occasions: in 1987, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in 1995 she received one on the Caracas Walk of Fame (Venezuela), in 1997 San Francisco declared October 25th as Celia Cruz Day, and in 2004, a year after her death, she was awarded the Lo Nuestro Award for her last album. She was bestowed with honorary doctorates by three universities in the United States: Yale University, Florida International University, and Miami University.

He also ventured into the cinema: Salsa (1975, documentary), The Mambo Kings (1992), When I Left Cuba (1995), and on television: Valentina (1993, soap opera), The Soul Has No Color (1997, remake of the 1948 Mexican film Angelitos Negros).

Some of her Albums: Canta Celia Cruz (1956), Cuba's Queen Of Rhythm (1958), The Incomparable Celia (1958), Cuba's Foremost Rhythm Singer (1958), Her Favorite (1959), The Dynamic (1960), Reflections by Celia Cruz (1960), Award-Winning Songs (1961), The Tender, Touching, Rhythmic (1962), My Musical Diary (1963), Songs I Wanted to Record First (1964), With Love (1964), Homage to the Saints (1964), Unforgettable Songs "La Guagua" (1964), Homage to the Saints Vol.2 (1965), The New Style of the Guarachera (1965), Son With Guaguancó (1966), Cuba and Puerto Rico Are... (1966), Flavor and Rhythm of the People (1964), Bravo (1967), Celia Cruz 67' (1967), To You, Mexico! (1968), Something Special to Remember (1972), Only They Could Have Made This Album (1977), Eternal (1978), Rhythm in the Heart (1988), Tribute to Ismael Rivera (1992), Black Sugar (1993), Unrepeatable (1994), Sugar! (1997), My Life Is to Sing (1998), I Will Always Live (2000), The Black Woman has Tumbao (2001), Carnival of Hits (2001), Hits Mix (2002), Gift from the Soul (2003), Merry Christmas (2003), Celia Cruz In The House (The Ultimate Classic Hits Remix Collection) (2003)

Celia Cruz is considered one of the most influential and important artists of her generation and a musical symbol of Latin music. Her figure has received numerous tributes in the form of series, documentaries, and biographies. In 2003, a music school was opened in the Bronx, called Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music.

Throughout his long musical career, he shared the stage with numerous personalities such as Tito Puente, Héctor Lavoe, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, La India, Willie Colón, Patti LaBelle, Ricky Martin, Lola Flores, Jarabe de Palo, Raphael, Vicente Fernández, Juan Gabriel, los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Ángela Carrasco, Olga Guillot, Yuri, Willy Chirino, Óscar D'León, Olga Tañón, Toña la Negra, Dionne Warwick, Martha Jean Claude, Luciano Pavarotti, Aída Cuevas, Rubén Blades, la Sonora Santanera, Johnny Pacheco, Albita Rodríguez, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Paulina Rubio, El General, among others.