Ursula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), better known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the twentieth century’s most popular Latin artists. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname “La Guarachera de Cuba”. She became known internationally as the “Queen of Salsa” in the following decades for her contributions to Latin music.
Cruz’s ability to sing Afro-Cuban music was recognized by Isolina Carrillo, who invited her to join her Conjunto Siboney, where Olga Guillot also sang. She later joined the Orquesta de Ernesto Duarte, Gloria Matancera, Sonora Caracas, and Orquesta Anacaona. She began singing in Havana’s most popular cabarets in 1947, including Tropicana, Sans Souci, Bamboo, and Topeka. Roderico Rodney Neyra founded Las Mulatas de Fuego, a group of dancers and singers, in 1948. (The Fiery Mulattas).
Cruz was hired as a singer with this group, where she had great success and made presentations in Mexico and Venezuela, where she made her first recordings. Cruz began singing on musical programs at Radio Cadena Suaritos shortly after, along with a group that performed Santera music under the direction of Obdulio Morales. She made several recordings with this group, known as Coro Yoruba y Tambores Batá, which were later released by Panart.
Was Celia Cruz a smoker?
Cruz: I’ve never smoked in my life. I began smoking because everyone in my family smoked, including my mother and brother. My brother was teaching me when I caught a cold and went to the doctor.
