in Havana
First recordings Isolina Carrillo was one of the first people to recognize Cruz's ability to sing Afro-Cuban music and asked her to join her Conjunto Siboney, where
Olga Guillot also sang. She later joined Orquesta de Ernesto Duarte, Gloria Matancera, Sonora Caracas and Orquesta Anacaona. From 1947, she started to sing in Havana's most popular cabarets:
Tropicana, Sans Souci, Bamboo, Topeka, etc. Cruz was hired with this group as a singer, reaching great success and making presentations in Mexico and
Venezuela, where she made her first recordings. Shortly thereafter, Cruz began to sing on musical programs at Radio Cadena Suaritos, along with a group that performed
Santería music under the direction of
Obdulio Morales. With this group, known as Coro Yoruba y Tambores Batá, she made several recordings that were later released by
Panart.
Sonora Matancera Cruz's big break came in 1950 when Myrta Silva, the singer with Cuba's
Sonora Matancera, returned to her native
Puerto Rico. Since they were in need of a new singer, the band decided to give the young Celia Cruz a chance. She auditioned in June, and at the end of July she was asked to join as lead singer, and thus became the group's first black frontwoman. In her first rehearsal with Sonora Matancera, Cruz met her future husband
Pedro Knight, who was the band's second trumpeter. Cruz debuted with the group on 3 August 1950. Initially, Cruz was not received with enthusiasm by the public, but Rogelio Martínez had faith in her. On 15 December 1950, Cruz recorded her first songs with the group, which were a resounding success. Her "musical marriage" with the Sonora Matancera lasted fifteen years. In total Celia recorded 188 songs with the Matancera, including hits such as "Cao cao maní picao", "Mata siguaraya", "Burundanga" and "El yerbero moderno". She won her first gold record for "Burundanga", making her first trip to the United States in 1957 to receive the award and to perform at
St. Nicholas Arena, New York. Cruz was publicly critical of Castro, a stance that she knew would endanger her career and possibly her freedom, since other critics of the regime were regularly arrested. She also needed money to pay for her ailing mother's medical expenses, and when she was offered a contract to perform for a few months at La Terraza Nightclub in
Mexico City, she accepted. Cruz left Cuba on 15 July 1960, not knowing that she would likely never return to her home country. Just one week after arriving in Mexico, Cruz received the news of the death of her father, Simón Cruz. In 1961, Cruz and Sonora Matancera left Mexico for an engagement in the United States. During this period, Cruz began performing solo without the group, performing at a recital at the
Hollywood Palladium in
Los Angeles. In 1962, before the refusal of the Cuban government to allow her to return to Cuba, Cruz acquired a house in
Fort Lee, New Jersey. Although she tried to return to Cuba to see her sick mother, who was struggling with terminal bladder cancer, the Cuban government denied her request to return. On 7 April 1962, she received the news of the death of her mother Catalina Alfonso. That same year, on 14 July, Cruz was married in civil ceremony with Pedro Knight after a romance of several years. Cruz and Sonora Matancera made their first tour outside of the Americas, visiting
Europe and
Japan, where they performed with
Tito Puente. In 1965, Cruz would culminate a vertiginous fifteen years with the Sonora Matancera. Cruz began a solo career and her husband Pedro Knight decided to leave his position at Sonora Matancera to become her representative, arranger and personal director. During this time, Cruz became an American citizen. In 1966, Cruz was contacted by Tito Puente to perform with his orchestra. Their first collaborative album, featured a recording of José Claro Fumero's guaracha "Bemba colorá", which became one of Cruz's signature songs. Cruz recorded her first studio album for Fania in 1974 in collaboration with
Johnny Pacheco, the label's founder and musical director. The album,
Celia & Johnny, and its lead single, "Quimbara", were both a commercial success. In 1976, she participated in the documentary film
Salsa about Latin culture, along with figures like
Dolores del Río and
Willie Colón. The following year she recorded her first LP with Colón, a collaboration that would be repeated with great success in 1981 and 1987. When touring with Colón, Cruz wore a flamboyant costume, which included various colored wigs, tight sequined dresses, and very high heels. Her fashion style became so famous that one of them was acquired by the Smithsonian institution. Having made musical presentations in Mexican and Cuban films, in 1992 Celia participated as an actress in the American film
Mambo Kings, along with
Armand Assante and
Antonio Banderas. A year later she made her debut as a television actress in the Mexican
telenovela Valentina, along with
Verónica Castro for the
Televisa network. In 1995, Celia made a guest appearance in the American film
The Perez Family, along with
Alfred Molina and
Anjelica Huston. In 1997, she starred again for Televisa in the Mexican telenovela , a remake of the classic Mexican film
Angelitos negros. Cruz played the role of a black woman who gives birth to a white daughter. On 25 October 1997, the city of
San Francisco,
California, officially declared that date as "Celia Cruz Day". In 1998, she released the album , which featured one of her most successful songs, . In 1999, she performed with
Luciano Pavarotti for the
Pavarotti and Friends concert. In 2000, Cruz released a new album under the auspices of
Sony Music,
Celia Cruz and Friends: A Night of Salsa, where she recorded again with Tito Puente, who died shortly after. Thanks to this album, Cruz was awarded her first
Latin Grammy. In 2001, the album won her a second Latin Grammy. In that same year, she performed with
Marc Anthony in a tribute to
Aretha Franklin for
VH1. In 2002, Cruz released the album, , where she ventured into modern variants of Caribbean rhythms, influenced by rap and hip hop. For this record she won her third Latin Grammy and her second American Grammy. On 16 July 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 "". A live recording of this song was subsequently made available in 2005 on a commemorative CD honoring the festival's then 20-year history entitled, "Central Park SummerStage: Live from the Heart of the City". Cruz appeared on the
Dionne Warwick albums
Dionne Sings Dionne and
My Friends & Me with their Latin duet version of "(Do You Know The Way To) San José". == Death ==