![]() While Cruz's mother encouraged her to enter other contests around Cuba, her more traditional father had other plans for her, encouraging her to become a teacher-a common occupation for Cuban women at that time. ![]() In the 1940s, Cruz won a "La hora del té" ("Tea Time") singing contest, propelling her into a music career. Cruz grew up in the poor Havana neighborhood of Santos Suárez, where Cuba's diverse musical climate became a growing influence. Early YearsĬruz was born in Havana, Cuba on October 21, 1925. Cruz died in New Jersey in 2003, at the age of 77. Relocating to the United States after the ascent of Fidel Castro, Cruz recorded 23 gold records with Tito Puente, the Fania All-Stars and other collaborators. He left Cuba with his family in 1979.Celia Cruz first gained recognition in the 1950s, as a singer with the orchestra Sonora Matancera. ![]() She was with us for so long, we never thought she would leave us. "She looked a little thin when we saw her sing here about a year ago. I called my dad in Tampa after hearing the news of Celia's death. By then, Celia's tape had rewound and it was time to dance again. The conversation usually was followed by relatives taking guesses at Celia's age - something the star didn't like to talk about publicly. And now here he was a man in his 30s, living in exile in Miami, and Celia was still making hits. Celia had hits on Cuban radio when he was a little boy in the 1950s. "I can't believe that Celia!" my father would say, and then he'd embark on the story he had told us so often it made us roll our eyes. In the 1980s, she may not have sold as many albums as pop divas Madonna and Gloria Estefan, but we loved her just as much, turning up the volume every time Celia's hit "La Dicha Mia" came on the radio. And we played her hottest tracks "Cucala" and "Usted Abuso" right along with our 8-track recordings of the Bee Gees and Donna Summer. Her brassy, flashy arrangements reignited a love of salsa's sabor - its flavor and groove - in people like me, who thought the Cuban danzones and guarachas of the 1950s were the corny music of our grandparents, not ours.Ĭelia's vivacious performance style, brightly colored wigs and flashy sequins made salsa music almost as cool as disco. "I am afraid to speak it," she whispered with a hint of embarrassment.Īlong with the Puerto Rican musicians in her adopted city of New York, Celia helped reinvent salsa music in the '70s. Even though she understood it, she didn't like to speak English. "It's easier to be simple and natural than to be stretched out and phony," she told me in Spanish. While critics compared her to jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, Celia talked about how much she loved being a housewife when she was home in New Jersey - folding clothes and cooking for the love of her life, Cuban trumpeter Pedro Knight. Despite an honorary doctorate from Yale University, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a statue in the Hollywood Wax Museum, Celia didn't put on airs. When I interviewed her in 1992 for an article in The Orange County (California) Register, I was struck with just how down to earth she was. Just as she helped me to see that in myself. From her, they got a glimpse of the joy of being Cuban and the richness of our culture. And by making the world jam, she became our greatest cultural export.Ĭelia brought the irresistible, soulful rhythm of Afro-Cuban music to people who knew nothing else about our island. As famous as Cuban cigars, the warmth of our people and the beauty of our beaches, Celia was the voice of Cuba. She was a national symbol of pride - of how far we could go when we combined our hard work with a hearty laugh and a good dance. ![]() No matter how far away from Havana her career or political differences took her, Celia was still one of us. We blasted the tapes of the singer's pure, pitch-perfect alto voice - smuggled to us by our Miami relatives - at every wedding, birthday party and family reunion. Our neighborhood watch group could lecture us or slap us with fines or maybe even send us to jail. The Salsa Queen's decision to defect to the United States made her an enemy of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his communist government. (CNN) - During my childhood in Cuba, it was against the law to play Celia Cruz albums.
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