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Cruz's Birth Day
Cruz was born on Oct. 21, 1925. She was born in Havana, Cuba. She is the second child of 14 kids, in a cramped house with other families. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt consolidated by Fidel Castro against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The revolution began in July 1953, and finally ousted Batista on 1 January 1959, replacing his regime with Castro's revolutionary government. Castro's government later reformed along communist lines, becoming the present Communist Party of Cuba in October 1965. -
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Teen Years
In her teens she started to sing. Cruz entered and won first prize in a radio contest, "La hora del té," by singing a tango song. She began entering other amateur contests, and though her mother was encouraging, her father strongly disapproved of her ambitions to become a singer in Cuba's strong salsa scene. -
Studying Music
From 1947 to 1950 she studied music theory, voice and piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Havana. -
Cruz's Big Break
Cruz's break came when La Sonora Matancera, a popular Cuban band, hired her as their lead vocalist in early 1950. She had a tough time at first, because female singers were a relative rarity in Cuban music and she replaced a singer with a popular following. Irate fans wrote her hate mail, and even Amarican lables was uneasy about her. So Rogelio Martínez paided her out of his pocket. -
U.S Citizen
In 1961 Cruz became a U.S cittien, and a little while after she persude her carrier in the U.S as a Salsa singer. -
Marrage
In 1962 Celia Cruz marries Salsero Pedro Knight. Alittle after that, they played music together for awhile. After a year or so, they seporated their music carriers to expand on their music abillities. -
One of the First U.S Lables
Celia signed her first US recording contract in 1965 with Seeco Records. Disappointed w she left when her contract was up in January 1966. That same month, Celia signed with Tico Records and remained with the company until 1973. During this time she recorded eight albums with Tito Puente. With mutual admiration for each other, Celia and Tito began working with tremendous creative enthusiasm but never produced big sales. Again, lack of promotion killed many great tunes they Created. -
Fame Grows more
By the 1970s, the salsa sound had caught on with a new generation of Latin Americans, Cruz even appeared at Carnegie Hall for a 1973 staging of Hommy. For a number of years, she was signed to the Fania label, a salsa–source powerhouse, with whom she recorded an acclaimed 1974 work, Celia and Willie. She performed regularly with the Fania All–Stars, including a 1976 concert at Yankee Stadium. The singer also appeared annually at a New York City salsa–fest held at Madison Square Garden. -
Awards
In 1990, Cruz won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance - Ray Barretto & Celia Cruz - Ritmo en el Corazon. She later recorded an anniversary album with la Sonora Matancera. In 1992, she starred with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas in the film The Mambo Kings. In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded Cruz the National Medal of Arts. -
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Cruz's Movie star days
In the 1992 film The Mambo Kings, she was cast as a nightclub owner, and she also appeared in 1995's The Perez Family. Her awards included a Grammy for best tropical Latin album of 1989 for Ritmo en el corazón, a collaboration with conga player Ray Barretto, and she took three consecutive Latin Grammy awards when the honors were established in 2000, including best salsa album of 2002 for La Negra Tiene Tumbao, which spawned a hit single of the same name. -
Last Record
In 2001, she recorded her (unknown to be last) album, on which Johnny Pacheco was one of the producers. -
Last preformance
On July 16, 2002, Cruz performed to a full house at the free outdoor performing arts festival Central Park SummerStage in New York City. During the performance she sang, "Bemba Colora." One of her big hits. -
Death
Celia Cruz dies at age 77.Cruz died of brain cancer at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, An her husband died on Feb. 3, 2007. She never had kids, but she had an amazing husband and amazing carrier.
