Celia Cruz
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname "La Guarachera de Cuba". In the following decades, she became known internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" due to her contributions to Latin music.[1][2][3] She had sold over 10 million copies, making her one of the best-selling Latin music artists.[4]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cruz and the second or maternal family name is Alfonso.
Celia Cruz
16 July 2003 (aged 77)
- Singer
- actress
1948–2003
- Vocals
- Seeco Records
- Tico Records
- Fania Records
- Barbaro Records
- RMM
- Sony Discos
She began her career in her home country Cuba, earning recognition as a vocalist of the popular musical group Sonora Matancera, a musical association that lasted 15 years (1950–1965). Cruz mastered a wide variety of Afro-Cuban music styles including guaracha, rumba, afro, son and bolero, recording numerous singles in these styles for Seeco Records. In 1960, after the Cuban Revolution caused the nationalization of the music industry, Cruz left her native country, becoming one of the symbols and spokespersons of the Cuban community in exile.[5] Cruz continued her career, first in Mexico, and then in the United States, the country that she took as her definitive residence. In the 1960s, she collaborated with Tito Puente, recording her signature tune "Bemba colorá". In the 1970s, she signed for Fania Records and became strongly associated with the salsa genre, releasing hits such as "Quimbara". She often appeared live with Fania All-Stars and collaborated with Johnny Pacheco and Willie Colón. During the last years of her career, Cruz continued to release successful songs such as "La vida es un carnaval" and "La negra tiene tumbao".[6]
Her musical legacy is made up of a total of 37 studio albums, as well as numerous live albums and collaborations. Throughout her career, she was awarded numerous prizes and distinctions, including two Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards. In addition to her prolific career in music, Cruz also made several appearances as an actress in movies and telenovelas. Her catchphrase "¡Azúcar!" ("Sugar!") has become one of the most recognizable symbols of salsa music.
Early life[edit]
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso was born on 21 October 1925, at 47 Serrano Street in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of Havana, Cuba.[7][8] Her father, Simón Cruz, was a railway stoker, and her mother, Catalina Alfonso Ramos, a housewife who took care of an extended family.[7] Celia was one of the eldest among fourteen children living in the house, including cousins and her three siblings, Dolores, Gladys, and Bárbaro,[9][10] and she used to sing cradle songs to put them to sleep.[8] According to her mother, she began singing as a child at 9 or 10 months of age, often in the middle of the night.[8][11] She also sang in school during the Fridays' actos cívicos and in her neighborhood ensemble, Botón de oro.[8]
While growing up in Cuba's diverse 1930s musical climate, Cruz listened to many musicians who influenced her adult career, including Fernando Collazo, Abelardo Barroso, Pablo Quevedo, Antonio Arcaño and Arsenio Rodríguez.[3] Despite her father's opposition and the fact that she was Catholic, as a child Cruz learned Santería songs from her neighbor who practiced Santería.[12] Cruz also studied the words to Yoruba songs with colleague Merceditas Valdés (an akpwon, a santería singer) from Cuba and later made various recordings of this religious genre, even singing backup for other akpwons like Candita Batista.
As a teenager, her aunt took her and her cousin to cabarets to sing, but her father encouraged her to attend school in the hope she would become a teacher. After high school, she attended the Normal School for Teachers in Havana with the intent of becoming a literature teacher.[13] At the time being a singer was not viewed as an entirely respectable career. However, one of her teachers told her that, as an entertainer, she could earn in one day what most Cuban teachers earned in a month. From 1947, Cruz studied music theory, voice, and piano at Havana's National Conservatory of Music.[14]
One day, her cousin took her to Havana's radio station Radio García-Serra, where she became a contestant in the "Hora del té" amateur radio program. It was her first time using a microphone and she sang the tango "Nostalgia" (as a tribute to Paulina Álvarez[3]), winning a cake as the first prize for her performance.[8] On other occasions she won silver chains, as well as opportunities to participate in more contests.[15] She also sang in other amateur radio programs such as La suprema corte del arte, broadcast by CMQ, always winning first prize. The only exception was when she competed against Vilma Valle, having to split their earnings: 25 dollars each.[8]
In 2004, the Miami Herald revealed from partially declassified US State Department papers that Cruz had been linked to Cuba's pre-Revolution communist party, the Popular Socialist Party (PSP), as early as the 1940s.[16] The article, promoted as an "exclusive", was written by Miami Herald journalist Carol Rosenberg from Freedom of Information Act requests. It made several revelations. Among them, the US Embassy in Havana denied Cruz a US visa in 1952 and 1955 because of suspected communist affiliations. The article also states that Cruz had joined the youth wing of the PSP at age 20 and had used a concert to arrange a secret meeting with communists in South America on behalf of its then general secretary, Blas Roca Calderío, who has also founded the party in 1925. Cruz had also signed a public letter in support of one of the Party's front groups, the Pro-Peace Congress. The article states that Cruz's surviving husband, Pedro Knight, was asked about this, and is quoted he knew nothing about it. "She never told me about that. She never talked about politics," the article quotes Knight.[17]
Awards[edit]
Grammy Awards[edit]
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States. Celia Cruz has received two awards from fourteen nominations, as well as a non-competitive Lifetime Achievement award.[69]