Celia Cruz and the exclamation ‘Sugar!’ still alive

The death of Celia Cruz paralyzed the world of Latin music on July 16, 2003 and caused great shock among her followers. On the 20th anniversary of her passing, her incomparable voice, energy, humility and exclamation Sugar!, which became her trademark, are still alive among her admirers, even among those who did not know her.

Nor does anyone forget her eye-catching dresses and bold, colorful wigs that made her look flawless as the “Queen of Salsa,” a title she earned herself in a five-decade career that began in her native Cuba and continued in the United States. ., where he went into exile in 1961.

Ursula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz and Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad (1925-2003), a black and Cuban woman of humble origin, broke through and prevailed in a genre dominated by men, who loved and respected her.

Twenty years later “Cuban Guarachera” lost her battle with cancer, the Cuban community honored her by dedicating their parade and float in New York, where her mayor, Eric Adams, declared July 16 “Celia Cruz Day,” while her supporters didn’t care. heavy rain and went to his mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, including 43-year-old Michael Grazin.

Graziano, who wore a T-shirt with the image of the singerrecalled the first time he heard Cruz at the age of 9: “I was about to fall asleep when I heard ‘bemba colorá, hear that you have bemba colorá’. I was mesmerized and I asked my mother who was singing and she insisted when she went to sleep and I found out who is that woman. She called me ‘Celia Cruz’ and from that day her name was recorded forever,” she said while other fans told EFE it was important to pay tribute to their queen.

“I remember Celia with the same strength, love and sweetness because she is what always prevailed in our friendship,” said the Cuban singer Lucrecia, who gave life to the popular performer in the musical and speaks of her as if she were alive.

“The admiration I feel for Celia is untouchable for me“He affirms and points out that the deceased singer is getting bigger and bigger because among his new followers are young people who did not know him.

Cruz showed an interest in music from an early age, but her father wanted her to be a teacher “one of the few professions a poor black could study in Cuba” and which she abandoned when she was close to graduating, she recalls in her book “Celia en Cuba (1925-1962)” by the Cuban philologist Rosa Marquetti, about the singer’s career in her country, a period about which not much is known.

Celia did not become famous

He told EFE that with his book, published in 2022, he wanted to show that “Celia is a phenomenon that transcends generations, that she was a diva and that her contribution to Cuban music was enormous” and put an end to the idea that it was the Fania orchestra that made her famous.

“With Fania, her popularity increased, because she had already traveled and was known in other countries (before coming to NOW) where he traveled singing with Sonora Matancera. In Cuba, he worked in lyric theater, vernacular theater, he was one of the big stars of the Tropicana cabaret and he did a radio soap opera,” he recalled.

He assures that apart from the musical legacy, a singer He bequeathed to the Latins “his values, his perseverance, his intelligence, his knowledge of how to fight for his dreams, his wisdom to deal with complex situations.”

“He knew how to impose himself without losing human qualitywithout stepping on anyone’s head, and many women identify with that heritage, including me,” he says.

He had respect for the public, he was aware of who he was, he knew the weight of his name, but also that without that public he would not have reached where he has reached, said Marquetti, who is working on the second part of the film, the history of the artist’s career.

When his death became known, fans gathered in front of the funeral home in NY where their remains were transported and they sang hugging their photos and records, while sharing memories for long hours.

After almost a week of extensive funeral of the public zealot, in which his remains were covered with a veil Miami and New Yorkshe was buried in her mausoleum and rests next to her husband, Pedro Knight, who died four years later.

His death did not stop the recognition of this icon latin musicand honors include the release of a Barbie-Celia Cruz doll next September, to be immortalized on the United States 25-cent coin in 2025.