Celia Cruz
An unlikely candidate for international stardom, Celia Cruz overcame her humble origins, a tumultuous revolution, and the color barrier to become the most popular female singer ever to emerge from the Caribbean. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1924 and raised in a large family of 14 children, legend has it that as a child she got her first pair of shoes as a gift from a tourist charmed by her singing. Around her home and with extended family her vocal gift was already apparent as a child when she sang lullabies to her younger siblings. Her father however wanted her to be a teacher and frowned upon the notion of singing as a career, thinking it to be a disreputable vocation. Encouraged by her mother, in 1947 she won a singing contest and studied briefly at the National... Read More
- City Of Origin:
- Havana, Cuba
- Genre:
- World
- Birthdate:
- 10/21/1925
- Death date:
- 07/16/2003
