one of my highlights, living in Puerto Rico was a fleeting meeting with Celia Cruz. What a firecracker personality, a true diva.
PBS
10 March 2023
Let’s celebrate Celia Cruz, y’all. Celia Cruz was born in Havana, Cuba in 1945, where she studied to be a teacher. Cruz sang for radio stations to earn money during her schooling and she later became the lead singer of the country’s most popular orchestra, La Sonora Matancera. After she moved to the U.S. in 1961, Cruz connected with salsa musicians and musical innovators and put her own stamp on the music scene with her energy and unique voice. Her sound was rooted in the Yoruba music she grew up with and her on-stage personality imparted a knowingness about overcoming life’s challenges to any song lyrics. When she passed away in 2003, she had recorded over 80 albums, earned 23 gold records, won five Grammy awards, and received the president’s National Medal of Arts. Celia Cruz was one of the greatest performers of the 20th century, famous for interjecting a lively “Azucar!” as she sang, and the undisputed “Queen of Salsa.” She’ll soon make history again, when she’ll be featured on the U.S. quarter, making her the first Afro-Latina to appear on the coin.