Life Of Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz the Queen of Salsa well known all over the world for her outstanding performances and her message of joy to life. She was an artist with over six decades of success making her an inspiration to the Latin community as well as the rest of the world.CELIA CRUZ LIFE

Celia Cruz was born in a humble neighborhood of Santo Suarez in Havana, Cuba on October 21, 1924. She was one of 14 children. One of her chores was to sing to her youngest sibling to sleep. Her first appearance as a child earned her a pair of shoes from a tourist that was watching. As a teenager she performed in many talent shows at school and community gatherings. Also her aunt took her cousin and her to nightclubs and cabarets. Yet, while her family supported her talent, her father was insisting for Celia to continuing her school so she could become a teacher.

Following her heart, she continued pursuing her dreams; winning fancy cakes and more opportunities to showed her talent. Her big break was in 1950 when La Sonora Matancera was looking for a new leading singer, because her previous singer Mirtha Silva decided to quit to returned to her native Puerto Rico. Even though Celia Cruz was rough around the edges, they decided to give her a break. A lot of people call local radio station complaining about Cruz, also the executive in the industry did not believe that a female singer could sell albums. She proved them wrong. Celia 's perseverance overcame all her obstacles and she became a permanent leading singer of La Sonora Matancera, traveling all over Latin America and Mexico. Celia Cruz was a member of La Sonora for 15 years, and then in July 15, 1960, she decided to migrate to United State to pursue her singing career.

It only took her 1-year (1961) to become legal citizen of the United States. While she was working at the Hollywood Palladium, Celia fell in love with Mr. Pedro Knight. After one year of been together they decided to get married in 1962. By 1965 Mr. Knight decided to quit his own career to become Celia's manager, demonstrating that you can manage a family and career at the same time.CELIA CRUZ LIFE

Celia's passion was to sing, but she also obtained three honorary doctoral degrees from Yale University, Florida International University and University of Miami. She also appeared in about