Life of Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz was one of the most famous Cuban salsa singers. She was nicknamed the Queen of Salsa, with more than thirty-six albums, recorded with some other leading singers in Latin music. Celia worked as a singer for more than forty years, and during that time, she became well known for her vigorous work, great personality, and her emotional way of singing. During her performances, she was well known for being able to improvise lyrics. She was an artist with over six decades of success making her an inspiration to the Latin community as well as the rest of the world. The talented singer was born on October 21, 1925, in the Santo Suarez neighborhood of Havana. Her singing talent was obvious even when she was young, but instead of pursuing a career in singing, she studied to be a teacher. This was because her father told her that he did not believe that singing was a worthwhile profession for a woman. Still, she went after a career in singing, after encouragement from her mother, teacher and aunt. Celia Cruz began singing in talent shows and doing recordings for radio stations, but neither were sold for money. Her first recordings were made in 1978 in Venezuela with the Turpial label. She sang these with the Leonard Melody and Alfonso Larrain orchestras. In 1950, she was called in to be the lead singer of a Cuban band, La Sonara Matancera. At first, the public did not like her, because she was black, but eventually, because of her hard work, talent and the fact that the orchestra stood by her, the public accepted her, and she became famous throughout Cuba. Celia was a member of La Sonora for fifteen years, and then in July 15, 1960, she decided to migrate to the United States to pursue her singing career. It only took her one year to become a legal citizen of the US. After becoming a citizen in 1961, Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro was furious and barred Cruz returning to Cuba, enforcing the ban even after her parents’ deaths. Celia for her part has vowed not

Bibliography: Marceles, Eduardo. Azúcar! The Biography of Celia Cruz. New York: Reed Press, 2004