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Celia Cruz
Background information
Origin	Havana, Cuba
Genre(s)	Salsa
Years active	1948 – 2003
Website	Celia Cruz Online

Celia Cruz (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a three-time Grammy Award and four-time Latin Grammy winning Cuban-American salsa singer who spent most of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Cruz was one of the most successful Cuban performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name and has earned the moniker of the "La guarachera de Cuba".

Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best-known and most influential female figure in the history of Afro-Cuban music." Celia once said in an interview "If I had a chance I wouldn't have been singing and dancing, I would be a teacher just like my dad wanted me to be".

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Career in the United States 3 Posthumous career achievements and tributes 3.1 Discography 3.2 Grammy and Latin Grammy Wins 4 See also 5 External links

Celia Cruz was born Úrsula Hilaria Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. Her parents were Catalina Alfonso and Simón Cruz. When she was a teenager, her aunt took her and her cousin to cabarets to sing, but her father encouraged her to keep attending school, in hopes that she would become a Spanish language teacher. 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. Cruz began singing in talent contests (in her first one, at the Havana radio station Radio Garcia-Serra's popular "Hora del Te" daily broadcast, she sang the tango "Nostalgias", and won a cake as first place) often winning cakes and also opportunities to participate in more contests. Her first recordings were made in 1948 in Venezuela. Before that, Celia had recorded for radio stations.

In 1950, she made her first major breakthrough, after the lead singer of the Sonora Matancera, a renowned Cuban orquesta, left the group and Cruz was called to fill in. Hired permanently by the orchestra, she wasn't well accepted by the public at first. However, the orchestra stood by their decision, and soon Cruz became famous throughout Cuba. During the 15 years she was a member, the band travelled all over Latin America, becoming known as "Café Con Leche" (coffee with milk). Cruz became known for her trademark shout "¡Azúcar!", ("Sugar!" in Spanish). The catch phrase started as the punch line for a joke Cruz used to tell frequently at her concerts. After having told the joke so many times, Cruz eventually dropped the joke and greeted her audience at the start of her appearances with the punch line alone. In her later years, she would use the punch line a few times, to later say: "No les digo más 'Azúcar', pa' que no les dé diabetes!" ("I won't say 'Sugar' anymore, so that you don't end up with diabetes!")

In 1960, in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, Cruz moved to the United States. In 1961, she and her orchestra began performing at the Palladium Ballroom in New York City. The next year, she married her lead trumpeter, Pedro Knight. In 1965, Cruz and her husband left the orchestra. Her solo career advanced, while Knight's career languished, and eventually, he became her manager. She was by then a US citizen and was never given permission to return to Cuba (she did play at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base once).

In 1966, Cruz and Tito Puente began an association that would lead to eight albums for Tico Records. The albums were not as successful as expected, however, and Cruz later joined the Vaya Records label. There, she joined accomplished pianist Larry Harlow and was soon headlining a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Her 1974 album, with Johnny Pacheco, Celia y Johnny, was very successful, and Cruz soon found herself in a group named the Fania All Stars, which was an ensemble of salsa musicians from every orchestra signed by the Fania label (owner of Vaya Records). With the Fania All Stars, Celia had the opportunity of visiting England, France, Zaire, and to return to tour Latin America. In the late 1970s, she participated in an Eastern Air Lines commercial in Puerto Rico, singing the catchy phrase ¡Esto sí es volar! (This really is flying!!!).

During the 1980s, Cruz made many tours in Latin America, doing multiple concert and television shows wherever she went, and singing both with younger stars and stars of her own era. She began a crossover of sorts, when she participated in the 1988 Hollywood production of Salsa, alongside Draco Cornelio Rosa.

In 1990, Cruz won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance - Ray Barretto & Celia Cruz - Ritmo en el Corazon. She later recorded an anniversary album with la Sonora Matancera. In 1992, she starred with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas in the film The Mambo Kings. In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded Cruz the National Medal of Arts. In 2001, she recorded a new album, on which Johnny Pacheco was one of the producers.

In early 2003, she had surgery to correct knee problems that she had for a few years, and she intended to continue working indefinitely. However, in July of that year, she died of a cancerous brain tumor at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey. She was survived by her husband; they had no children. After her death, her body was taken on a tour of US cities with large Cuban populations so that her many fans could pay their final respects. She was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx; an epilogue in her autobiography notes that, in accordance with her wishes, Cuban soil that she had saved from a visit to Guantánamo Bay was used in her burial.

In February 2004, her latest album Regalo del Alma, won a posthumous award at the Premios Lo Nuestro for best Salsa release of the year. It was announced in December 2005 that a musical called "Assuca" would open in Tenerife before touring the world. The name comes from Cruz's well-known catch phrase of "¡Azúcar!". (2)

On June 4, 2003, the town of Union City, New Jersey, which lies not far from Cruz's Fort Lee home (and which once boasted the second-highest Cuban population after Miami), heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz's widower, Pedro Knight, present. The park featured a sidewalk star in Cruz's honor, and an 8' x 10' mural by Union City's Edgardo Davila, a collage of Cruz's career throughout the decades. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world.^[1] Stars were later added to the park in honor of Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer Johnny Pacheco, and Benny More. The park was again refurbished by the Latin American Kiwanis Club in early June 2006. The mural was replaced with a backlit photograph of Cruz, and four more stars were added in honor of merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cuban musician Israel "Cachao" Lopez, and Cuban tenor Beny Moré.

On May 18, 2005, the National Museum of American History, administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., opened "¡Azúcar!", an exhibit celebrating the life and music of Celia Cruz. The exhibit highlights important moments in Cruz's life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, videos, and music.

Oye, Celia!: A Song for Celia Cruz is a children's picture book tribute to Cruz, written by Katie Sciurba and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. This book, published by Henry Holt & Company, will be released on April 17, 2007.

• 2006 Homenaje a Beny More
• 2006 Celia & Johnny
• 2004 Dios Disfrute a la Reina [2004]
• 2003 Son Boleros, Boleros Son
• 2003 Reina de la Musica Cubana
• 2003 Regalo del Alma
• 2003 Mas Grande Historia Jamas Cantada
• 2003 Estrellas de la Sonora Matancera
• 2003 Celia in the House: Classic Hits Remixed
• 2003 Carnaval de la Vida
• 2003 Candela Pura
• 2002 Unrepeatable
• 2002 Negra Tiene Tumbao [Bonus Track]
• 2002 Hits Mix
• 2001 Siempre Vivire [Bonus Track]
• 2001 Negra Tiene Tumbao
• 2000 Siempre Vivire
• 2000 Salsa
• 2000 Habanera
• 2000 Celia Cruz and Friends: A Night of Salsa
• 1999 En Vivo Radio Progreso, Vol. 3
• 1999 En Vivo Radio Progreso, Vol. 2
• 1999 En Vivo Radio Progreso, Vol. 1
• 1999 En Vivo C.M.Q., Vol. 5
• 1999 En Vivo C.M.Q., Vol. 4
• 1998 Mi Vida Es Cantar
• 1998 Afro-Cubana
• 1997 Tambien Boleros
• 1997 Duets
• 1997 Cambiando Ritmos
• 1996 Celia Cruz [Delta]
• 1995 Irresistible
• 1995 Festejando Navidad
• 1995 Double Dynamite
• 1995 Cuba's Queen of Rhythm
• 1994 Merengue [Saludos Amigos]
• 1994 Mambo del Amor
• 1994 Irrepetible
• 1994 Homenaje a Los Santos
• 1994 Guaracheras de La Guaracha
• 1993 Introducing
• 1993 Homenaje a Beny More, Vol. 3
• 1993 Boleros [Polydor]
• 1993 Azucar Negra
• 1992 Verdadera Historia
• 1992 Tributo a Ismael Rivera
• 1991 Reina del Ritmo Cubano
• 1991 Canta Celia Cruz
• 1990 Guarachera del Mundo
• 1988 Ritmo en el Corazon
• 1987 Winners
• 1986 De Nuevo
• 1986 Candela
• 1982 Feliz Encuentro
• 1981 Celia & Willie
• 1980 Celia/Johnny/Pete
• 1979 Ceiba
• 1978 Eternos
• 1978 Brillante
• 1978 A Todo Mis Amigos
• 1977 Only They Could Have Made This Album
• 1975 Tremendo Cache
• 1970 Etc. Etc. Etc.
• 1969 Quimbo Quimbumbia
• 1968 Serenata Guajira
• 1968 Excitante
• 1967 Ti Mexico
• 1967 Bravo Celia Cruz
• 1966 Son con Guaguanco
• 1966 Cuba Y Puerto Rico Son
• 1965 Sabor y Ritmo de Pueblos
• 1965 Canciones Premiadas
• 1959 Mi Diario Musical
• 1958 Incomparable Celia

Year	Category	Recording
Grammy Awards
1989	Best Tropical Latin Performance	Ritmo En El Corazon (With Ray Barretto)
2002	Best Salsa Album	La Negra Tiene Tumbao
2003	Best Salsa/Merengue Album	Regalo Del Alma
Latin Grammy Awards
2000	Best Salsa Performance	Celia Cruz and Friends: A Night Of Salsa
2001	Best Tropical Tradicional Album	Siempre Viviré
2002	Best Salsa Album	La Negra Tiene Tumbao
2004	Best Salsa Album	Regalo Del Alma

• List of Cubans
• List of Cuban Americans
• List of notable brain tumor patients

• Celia Cruz at the Internet Movie Database
• Celia Cruz at Findagrave.com
• ¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz at the National Museum of American History
• Celia Cruz FanSite