Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso was born in Havana, Cuba. She grew up in the same household as her extended family of 14 members. As the eldest of the children, she sang cradle songs to her siblings, cousins, and nieces. In addition to singing at home, she participated in school productions and community events.
At the time, the musical climate in Cuba was diverse, and she was introduced to many genres and styles that would influence her career as a professional singer.
After high school, she attended the Normal School for Teachers but left to study music theory, voice, and piano at Havana’s National Conservatory of Music and pursue a music career.
She began competing in various amateur radio shows, winning first place time after time. She came to the attention of both the public and influential musicians and producers. One of them was Isolina Carrillo, who asked Cruz to join her vocal group Conjunto Sibone. Afterward, she joined other groups, and by the age of 22, she got invited to perform in Havana’s most popular cabarets, including the famous Tropicana Night Club.
The following year, the new singing and dancing group Las Mulatas de Fuego (The Fiery Mulattas) hired her to perform with them throughout Latin America and make her first recording.
In 1950, at 25, she was appointed lead singer of the Sonora Matancera band and became the group’s first Black singer and front person since it was founded 25 years earlier. During her 15 years with the band, she recorded 188 songs and regularly performed on TV shows, radio programs, and various venues throughout the continent.
During the Cuban revolution of 1959, Cruz was touring in Mexico, and she and her band members were banned from returning to their homeland. They moved to the US and settled in New Jersey. At this time, she began to perform as a solo artist.
In 1962, she married the band’s first trumpet player, Pedro Knight, who became her musical director and manager when she left the band and embarked on a solo career. Her success rose when she became recognized with salsa, a music genre that combined Afro-Cuban sounds with Latin American elements. She was known for her operatic voice that moved from high to low pitches and for improvising rhymed lyrics that she added to salsa music. Another trademark was her flamboyant costumes, including varicolored wigs, tight dresses, and eccentric high heels.
In 1966, Cruz joined the Tito Puente Orchestra, and together they established the foundations of salsa music. The first album of Cruz and the orchestra, Son con guaguancó, featured what has become one of her signature songs, “Bemba colorá.” She recorded four more albums with the orchestra and several under the Tico label.
At 49, Cruz signed with Fania Records, dedicated solely to salsa, where she was the only female artist. Under that label, she cooperated with the musician Johnny Pacheco and recorded the album “Celia y Johnny,” which included the song “Quimbera.” Cruz continued to perform and work with the best salsa artists of the time, including Willie Colon and Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez. She also reunited with Sonora Matancera to record another album titled Feliz Encuentro.
In 1989, at 64, Cruz received her first Grammy award for Best Tropical Latin Album for Ritmo En El Corazón. Five years later, she was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts award – the US government’s highest recognition granted to an artist.
Between albums, performances, and awards, Cruz developed her acting career, appearing in various American movies and Mexican telenovelas.
In 2002, she was diagnosed with breast cancer but continued to create music. Her last album, Regalo del Alma, was released in February 2003. In the following month, she made her last public appearance in a tribute for her by the US Hispanic network Telemundo. She died a few months later, at the age of 77.
Throughout her career, she recorded over 80 albums, earned 23 Gold Records, appeared in 15 movies, and won over 100 awards, including two American Grammys and three Latin Grammys.
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