Let's Get to Know the History of the Queen of Salsa - Celia Cruz
They say that Music gives soul to the Universe, that's why in VirtualVariety we start this incredible section with a wonderful woman, a Latin woman who left a legacy, and changed the world with her voice, many know her as La Guarachera, and others as La Reina de la Salsa. You may be wondering by now, but who is this woman? Most Latinos at some point in their lives will have heard of the great Celia Cruz, and there was not a house where her songs were not played, where she was not admired and loved, it is incredible how this Cuban conquered half the world, with her charisma, her voice and countless talents, so in Virtual Variety we take the time to talk about her in this interesting section, this is her story.
Talking about the birth of this incredible Cuban is a bit complicated, and you may think, why? The fact is that it is not known with certainty in what year the great Celia was born, there was a lot of mystery with her age and exact date, but the one that is best known is 1925, in "that year", Celia Caridad Cruz was born in the neighborhood of Santos Suarez in Havana, She was the second daughter of Don Simon Cruz and Doña Catalina Alfonso, in total she had 3 siblings, and lived with 11 cousins, the curious thing is that they say that Celia lulled them with her voice, she sang to them so they could sleep, and there began that path to music without knowing it. According to some people who had the opportunity to know the great Celia and her family, they affirm that she inherited her mother's voice, and even Doña Catalina also believed it, and she confirmed it, one day the girl Celia with 12 years old, sang to a tourist who was visiting the island, He was fascinated with the voice of the young girl, and therefore decided to give her a pair of shoes, for such talent, realizing this opportunity, the little Celia, began to sing to other tourists and without thinking, achieved that all the children in the house had shoes, Incredible right? .
But unfortunately not everything in life turns out as we think, or want, her father was strongly opposed to Celia to sing, because he had the belief that the singers of that time, were "Bandoleras", so he wanted his daughter to be a teacher, but her mother supported and motivated her, but despite that, Celia did not want to disappoint her father, and began to study to be a teacher, however, When she was about to finish her career, she withdrew to enter the National Conservatory of Music, this gave her the opportunity to sing, dance and be in radio programs, this opened the doors in many ways, she won several awards for such talent, and even received her first payment of 15 dollars.
In 1940 the fruits of so much work began to emerge, she became part of a Spectacular Show called Las Mulatas de Fuego, and this gave her the opportunity to visit Venezuela and Mexico, but the best was yet to come in 1950, she met the Director of the Sonora Matancera, in a great Cabaret Tropicana, famous in Cuba in those years, Celia joined the group to replace an incredible singer Myrta Silva, the official soloist of the orchestra. At that time the orchestra was very popular in Cuba and in some parts of the world, but without thinking about it Celia became the soul of the group, and thanks to this they lived their best golden days. But not everything in Celia's life was work, singing and dancing, love also came to her, that's why in 1962 she married the first trumpet player of the Sonora Matancera, Pedro Knight, in 1965 both decided to retire from the orchestra, and she decided to be a soloist, the great Pedro, besides being her husband, was her manager. Already in 1974 the Cuban became a singer of international stature, Celia was one of many Hispanic artists who gave impulse to a musical genre, which today defines us as Latinos, Salsa, that is why she earned the name of La Reina de la Salsa (The Queen of Salsa).
Despite all the success she achieved with her talent, songs and awards, Celia Cruz was not entirely happy, she had to flee her beloved Cuba, because of political problems with Fidel Castro, and because of that, she moved to New York, where she started a new life with Pedro Knight, however, her heart was still in Cuba, and when her mother died in 1962, she could not even be at the wake and burial of her, because of the prohibition she had to visit the island, while we were investigating and writing this post, it became impossible not to listen to her, to inspire us, because it is incredible, but in every song of Celia Cruz, there is energy, joy, and a voice that captivates you, that transports you to beautiful times of your childhood, or a memory of the past, for VirtualVariety Celia was an extravagant, beautiful woman, who showed that with effort, dedication and wisdom you can achieve whatever you want, no matter how many obstacles you face, she was an example to follow this woman.
La Guarachera recorded more than seventy musical albums, eight hundred songs, received 5 Grammy Awards, earned twenty-three gold records, toured all over the world, and her music was heard even in Japan, she became the Musical Ambassador of Cuba, her energy, incredible way of being, and extravagant way of dressing, will always live in our memories, sadly she passed away on July 16, 2003 in New Jersey at the age of seventy eight due to a brain tumor, thousands of people around the world paid tribute to her, even in her beloved Cuba where she could never return, even though her music was banned for over 40 years, many Cubans mourned her departure, her sugar will always live in our memories, and her legacy lives today more than ever.
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I love salsa, I have been dancing for 11 years and I have heard her name many times, but never heard her story, so thank you for putting it together in an article here 💙