More than twenty years after her departure, Celia Cruz has more impact every day. She’s an immortalized legend. Her name is a street in the Bronx, a park in New Jersey and a square in Los Angeles. Her face is on postage stamps, t-shirts and a mural in Miami. She made history as the first Afro-Latina to be on a U.S. quarter. She even had her tribute version of a Barbie. Of course, these recognitions don’t just happen.
Worldwide known as the “Queen of Salsa”, Celia Cruz was one of the greats. She stood out in a male-dominated environment and was revered by everyone, from her contemporaries to later generations. Such an impact can only be explained by major talent, the kind that leads to a long-lasting legacy. And that’s what gave her powerfully unique and captivating contralto voice, enhanced by a vibrant stage presence and an electrifying style we still enjoy today. Witness it for yourself on Saturday, August 3rd, when Grand Performances celebrates — in partnership with Nance Arte Productions and Fania Records — her long-lasting legacy with a free tribute featuring performances by Havana Secret, Gia Fu and Contra-Tiempo in Los Angeles. You can also enjoy the live-stream, wherever you are, by clicking here.
“A Tribute to Salsa Royalty” isn’t just another tribute show. Primarily, the centerpiece consists of inspired renditions of timeless classics performed by Havana Secret, the backing band for Cruz’s latest tour. Led by her musical director Luis Eric González, this group gave over 30 shows between 2000 and 2002, from San Francisco to San Jose to San Diego to Las Vegas to Hawaii, including many of her most iconic moments — actually, they performed with Celia at her very last US concert, the 2nd to last show of her career, at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s all about Grand Performances’ long history of annual tribute shows, shaking up live and celebrating the legacy of true music pioneers, from Art Laboe to Max Roach, from Minnie Riperton to Alice Coltrane, from Agustín Lara to Sly and The Family Stone.
“My biggest influence is Celia Cruz,” reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen wrote a few years ago for a special Rolling Stone tribute to female icons. “For me, Celia had a completely unique, different, spectacular voice. She was a woman surrounded by men, when she was at Fania, and when she made her grand entrance, all the men had to bow because Mom had arrived to take control.” The Puerto Rican star also says that Celia has overcome the barriers of time and life itself. “Her legacy is untouchable,” Ivy argues. “Everyone respects her. She’s an icon. If we talk about the most important women artists in the world, Celia is there.”
Born on October 21, 1925, in Havana, Cuba, she was baptized as Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad de la Santísima Trinidad Cruz Alfonso. She grew up in a very humble family and she started singing at home, to lull the little ones to sleep. From an early age, Celia fantasized about dances and orchestras. Her mother, a housewife, was not opposed to her taking that path. But her father, a railroad stoker, wanted her to be a teacher. When she was about to finish her teaching degree, she left to study at the National Conservatory of Music in Havana. In 1948, she was already touring Latin America with the group Las Mulatas de Fuego. Two years later, she debuted as the singer of La Sonora Matancera, the most popular Cuban son orchestra.
As frontwoman of La Sonora Matancera, Cruz had to overcome some obstacles. First, she convinced the band’s followers, who were still clinging to her predecessor, the white-skinned Puerto Rican singer Myrta Silva, with enough strength not to feel intimidated and to win the admiration of the same audience that initially had rejected her. And then she had to deal with the directors of Seeco Records, who were of the idea that women didn’t sell records. At the end of 1950, Celia recorded her first song with La Sonora Matancera, the successful guaracha “Cao Cao Maní Picao”. Other classics came out of the same combo such as “Burundanga”, “Yerbero Moderno” and the bolero-mambo “Tu Voz”. Along with the orchestra, the singer also explored rhythms such as son montuno, guaguancó and rumba.
Celia Cruz was a key pillar during the “golden era” of La Sonora Matancera. Together they shined throughout the 1950s, with successful tours across the American continent. At that time she earned the nickname “Guarachera de Cuba”. In the band, she found her future husband, her lifelong partner, the trumpeter Pedro Knight. And it was also with this band that, in 1960, she got on a plane to Mexico that would take her away from her beloved Cuba forever. Against the requirements of the Cuban Revolution, she was never able to return to the island. She became a detractor of Fidel Castro, although he was her fan and initially wanted to meet her. Celia moved to New York, where she married Knight, who became her manager. By 1965, she had left La Sonora Matancera to begin her solo career. And by 1966 she began a musical partnership with Tito Puente that led to many albums.
Of course, if it comes to tracking turning points in Celia’s career, “Gracia Divina” cannot be missing. Released in 1973, as the spearhead of the Latin opera Hommy, it’s her first salsa song, a gateway to the new rhythm. It all came about when pianist and Fania Records artist Larry Harlow thought Cruz was the one to sing it. The “salsopera” immediately arrived at Carnegie Hall, making the Cuban artist the first Latina to perform at the legendary venue. That was when the Hispanic youth of New York discovered the magic of Celia Cruz. Later, she signed a contract with a Fania subsidiary label and began a series of albums with the Dominican salsa producer Johnny Pacheco.
At that time, Celia Cruz was also part of the Fania All-Stars, a combination to perform live with the most outstanding names from each orchestra of Fania Records, such as Johnny Pacheco, Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón. They took over Yankee Stadium, toured Europe, and gave a legendary show in Zaire, the current Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, with B.B. King and James Brown also in the line-up. This was recorded on the 1974 album Live in Africa.
In 1977, Celia Cruz recorded her first album with the support of Willie Colón, titled Only They Could Have Made This Album. This alliance with the renowned salsa trombonist and orchestrator would be repeated later in 1981 with the successful Celia & Willie, and in 1987, with The Winners. Also in the 1980s, she recorded two albums with Ray Baretto and continued performing live with the Fania All-Stars. Also, during this decade, she reunited with La Sonora Matancera. In 1988 she collaborated with the Argentine alter-Latin rock band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. And in 1989 she won her first Grammy Award for Ritmo en el Corazón, the second album she made with Barretto.
The 90s showed a renewed Celia Cruz, wearing brightly colored dresses and wigs, practically acting as herself in The Mambo Kings, and starting a new recording period with the 1993 album Azucar Negra. In 1998 she released Mi Vida Es Cantar, including new hits such as “La Vida Es Un Carnaval”. In 1999 she was invited to sing with Luciano Pavarotti. And the following year she opened the first edition of the Latin Grammys, performing alongside Ricky Martin and Gloria Estefan, where she also won an award for best salsa album (A Night of Salsa). Her last studio album was 2002’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao, where she ventured into modernized Caribbean rhythms influenced by rap and hip-hop. For this record, she won her second Grammy and her third Latin Grammy.
Celia Cruz rightly earned her aliases, from the “Guarachera of Cuba” to the “Queen of Salsa.” She overcame adversity and became even stronger in a historically patriarchal scene. She crossed borders and overthrew censorship with the sheer brilliance of a star. Her singing, her journey and her teachings have become, ultimately, indelible marks.
Celebrate Celia Cruz on Saturday, August 3rd, at Grand Performances’ free tribute, presented by Nance Arte Productions, in Los Angeles. More details here.