A Look at the Glorious Life & Musical Career of the Queen of Salsa BY IZZY SANABRIA http://rockerrollerrican.blogspot.com/
The electrifying Celia Cruz is an idolized name among Latinos of all ages who know her as “la Guarachera del Mundo” a title she’s held since she began singing on radio in her native Cuba during the 1940’s.
Anyone vaguely familiar with Celia knows that she is the number one “Superstar” of Latin music. Celia Cruz is unquestionably the first lady of Afro-Cuban music (origins of what we now call Salsa).
ON STAGE SUPER STAR
“Azucar” is her calling card and sugar is what she sprinkles to audiences wherever she performs. Celia enchants audiences with a mesmerizing stage presence enhanced by dazzling clothes, elaborate wigs, perpetual motion and the great power of her voice.
Dancing, swaying and adding fire to the rhythms with each movement of her body, Celia is the embodiment of joyous energy.
An energy she has also applied to her work in theater, film and television.
The magic created by this extraordinary performer has won her global recognition. She’s been awarded various honorary degrees, a Grammy, a stature in Hollywood’s famous wax museum, the prestigious star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and the key to numerous cities around the world. In October 1994, President Clinton personally presented Celia with the greatest honor an American artist can receive - the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest music award.
http://www.salsamagazine.com/index.php?page=16