Celia Cruz: A Brief Biography

Celia Cruz was born on October 21, 1925, in Santos Suarez neighborhood of La Habana. She started entering amateur competitions when she was fourteen years old. Cruz studied at the National Music Conservatoria Havana with a concentration in voice, piano and music theory. Although his father encouraged she become a teacher, developing his music career was inevitable natural ability as much as by the almost innate passion she had for music. In 1950, she joined the group La Sonora Matancera as lead singer. Since then, she began her rise to fame. Her powerful voice with the unique style of joint achievement gain popularity in Cuba and elsewhere in the world. She was always smiling and saying AZUCAR. Somehow she recovers from her sickness when some people thought that she wasn’t going to make it. She had always been positive even when she was ill. …show more content…
For more than 20 years she was a very involved with the annual telethon put on by La Liga contra el Cancer, which benefits local cancer patients. Even though she was a famous her ultimate wish was to visit her mother grave in her native Cuba, however she was not allowed to enter Cuba because she was considered a traitor in the government's eyes. Her health became declining late last year when she was diagnosed with a brain cancer. In the 1970s, Celia Cruz working with an upstart independent label called Fania. The Fania All Stars included such talents as Ruben Blades, Ray Barretto, Johhny Pacheco and Hector Lavoe. It was the time when the term "salsa" was coined and Celia Cruz earned the respect of its players and