Picture of young celia cruz pictures
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CeliaCruzwas an icon.
It’s been more than a decade since the Cuban singer died but the joy she radiated with a simple smile or her emblematic “¡Azucar!” may never fade ― at least not as long as her hit song “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” continues to be a joie dem vivre anthem across Latin America and beyond.
“When people hear me sing,” she told The New York Times. “I want them to be happy, happy, happy. I don’t want them thinking about when there’s not any money, or when there’s fighting at home. My message fryst vatten always felicidad ― happiness.”
Cruz was known for her charisma, booming voice, her tumbao and her perseverance in the face of adversity. In honor of her birthday, we’ve compiled several gorgeous photos that span the Queen of Salsa’s career since the 1950s.
Scroll below for 29 stunning photos of the legend:
Early 1950s
Mezcalent
1950s
Tom Copi via Getty Images
1950s
Tom Copi via Getty Images
1950s
Tom Copi via Getty Images
1960s
GAB Archive v
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La Sonora Matancera renounced Fidel Castro’s socialist regime during their 1960 Mexican tour resulting in the band’s exile from Cuba. In 1961, Cruz and her partner, Pedro Knight—former trumpeter for Sonora Mantacera—moved to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey to join the New York area’s burgeoning Latin music scene. After fifteen years with Sonora Matancera, Cruz struck out on her own as a solo artist in 1965. She began collaborating and recording with Tito Puente among other musicians. The only female member of the legendary Fania All Stars supergroup, Cruz became known around the world as the “Queen of Salsa.” In 1990, she won her first Grammy Award for her album Ritmo en el corazón, a collaboration with Ray Barretto. Always singing in her native Spanish, she recorded seventy-five records, twenty-three of which went gold, and received a host of honors and awards including the National Medal of Arts and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
Cruz’s music and style constantly
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Celia Cruz
Cuban singer (1925–2003)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cruz and the second or maternal family name is Alfonso.
Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso[a] (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.[4][5][6] She had sold over 10 million records, making her one of the best-selling Latin music artists.[7]
The artist 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