Overview
For most Latinos under seventy, there has never been a time without Celia Cruz. Her career has spanned three generations and each one harbors memories of Celia's music. So deeply is she rooted into the collective Latin consciousness that her songs can be used as benchmarks to recall specific moments in one's's life.After her recent death, nearly half a million people stood in line for hours, filed past her casket, and paid their respects in Miami and New York. Only a beloved queen has this kind of power to summon the masses on such a grand scale. Yet, this was only a sampling of her loyal public. All over the world there were mourners that could not attend, but anxiously followed the details on live television. Networks preempted their regular programming to bring the pageantry to the millions of adoring fans that could only be comforted by following the event as it unfolded on their TV screen. There were hours of retrospectives and tributes and even reruns of many previously televised interviews. People wanted to know more about her. They still do.
Celia was a woman of contrasts. She lived comfortably at the intersection of this contradiction. Her flamboyant costumes juxtaposed her simple and straightforward demeanor. She was open and accessible to her fans but staunchly private in her personal life. She was uninhibited without decadence; honest without offense; confident but not arrogant; and generous without fault. Her speech was simple but eloquent. One could easily miss the truth that floated in the spaces between her words. But above all, Celia was authentic and it was this authenticity that resonated so deeply with her public. They trusted her completely, even if they did not know her fully. Celia Cruz represents the pinnacle of what can be achieved with talent, hard work, faith and, most of all, guts.
The soul of Celia Cruz has remained her private domain all these remarkable years. Until now. Her rich, full life produced an extraordinary cache of archival information. Never-before-published personal pictures, notes, mementos, personal videos of Celia and Pedro touring the world and, at home and with family are but a part of what she has left us to tell her story.
This book is her story.
Based on well over 500 hours of taped interviews recorded just months before her death, this authorized, posthumous memoir will included never before told personal anecdotes, and photographs of the Queen of Salsa's extraordinary life.