[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 18744-18746]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE QUEEN OF SALSA, CELIA CRUZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2003

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the legendary Celia 
Cruz, who passed away of cancer on July 16, 2003, at the age of 78.
  I join with the people of my district and other citizens of the 
global community in mourning the loss of the woman who was rightly 
called ``La Reina de la Salsa.'' I recall fondly her solo and group 
performances with many musical greats, but in particular the ones with 
my late dear friend, Tito Puente. I recall most notably her 
performances at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. during 
the Americanos Festival and the Hispanic Heritage Awards.
  Ms. Cruz changed the world through her voice, helping not only to 
establish modern salsa music but also set a bar of excellence for all 
performers, male and female. She rose from humble roots in Cuba to 
become a global citizen who's gift of song and dance extended beyond 
language through more than 70 albums that incorporated everything from

[[Page 18745]]

mambo, to son, to modern reggae and hip-hop. Ms. Cruz's unique vocal 
abilities earned her hundreds of awards and honors, including a star on 
the Hollywood Walk of Fame and three honorary doctorates. Her talent 
earned her fans all over the world, serving to proudly uplift Latinos 
worldwide and helping to break down racial and gender barriers in 
unprecedented ways in music, politics and culture. Her grace and hard 
work kept her producing Grammy-winning albums until the very end of her 
life, challenging the perception that life, success and beauty stop at 
the certain age.
  Our condolences naturally go out to her husband Pedro, who more than 
anyone knew the rare and precious jewel that we had among us. However, 
while she has departed this earthly plane, her legacy will live forever 
in the hearts and minds of those who cherished her work in present and 
the generations of those fans yet to be born.
  I leave with my colleagues two articles written respectively by the 
New York Times' Jon Pareles and the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson. 
The article details Ms. Cruz's accomplishments and why life was always 
better with a little bit of ``Azucar!''

                [From the New York Times, July 17, 2003]

        Celia Cruz, Petite Powerhouse of Latin Music, Dies at 77

                            (By Jon Pareles)

       Celia Cruz, the Cuban singer who became the queen of Latin 
     music, died yesterday at her home in Fort Lee, N.J. She was 
     77.
       The cause was complications after surgery for a brain 
     tumor, said a spokeswoman, Blanca Lasalle.
       Onstage, Ms. Cruz was a petite woman who wore tight, 
     glittering dresses and towering wigs, dancing in high heels 
     and belting songs that she punctuated with shouts of 
     ``Azucar!'' (``Sugar!''). She was a vocal powerhouse, with a 
     tough, raspy voice that could ride the percussive attack of a 
     rumba or bring hard-won emotion to a lovelorn Cuban son.
       ``When people hear me sing,'' she said in an interview with 
     The New York Times, ``I want them to be happy, happy, happy. 
     I don't want them thinking about when there's not any money, 
     or when there's fighting at home. My message is always 
     felicidad--happiness.''
       In a career that began in the 1940's, Ms. Cruz sang with 
     every major Latin bandleader and recorded more than 70 
     albums. She sang a full spectrum of Afro-Cuban music, from 
     the religious chants of santeria to mambos and cha-chas to 
     modern salsa. Yet unlike many of the Latin musicians in her 
     wake, she didn't court a crossover audience. She recorded in 
     Spanish, modestly saying that her English was not good 
     enough.
       Ms. Cruz was born in Havana to a poor family, and she 
     regularly sang her brothers and sisters to sleep. She won a 
     radio talent contest after a cousin took her to the radio 
     station Garcia Serra; first prize was a cake. She went on to 
     study at the Havana Conservatory and to sing on radio 
     programs. In 1950, she joined La Sonora Matancera, Cuba's 
     most popular band. ``I wanted to be a mother, a teacher and a 
     housewife,'' she told The New York Times. ``But when I began 
     to sing with La Sonora Matancera, I thought, `This is my 
     chance, and I'm going to do it.'''
       She toured with the group constantly, sometimes singing 
     five sets a day; they were also headliners at Havana's most 
     celebrated nightclub, the Tropicana, and performed on radio 
     and television. But in 1960, a year after Fidel Castro took 
     power in Cuba, she was touring Mexico with La Sonora 
     Matancera and decided not to return to Cuba. Years later, 
     Cuba refused permission for her to attend her father's 
     funeral.
       Ms. Cruz moved to New York in 1961, and later to Fort Lee. 
     In 1962, she married Pedro Knight, a trumpeter from La Sonora 
     Matancera who became her musical director and manager. He 
     survives her, along with two sisters, Gladys Becquer and 
     Dolores Cruz.
       In New York, she held on to her Cuban roots while adding 
     some of the city's Puerto Rican and later Dominican elements 
     to her music. She sang with Tito Puente's orchestra in the 
     1960's, a collaboration she periodically renewed through the 
     next decades, and in the 1970's she also sang with 
     bandleaders like Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon and Ray 
     Barretto. She performed with the Fania All-Stars at Yankee 
     Stadium in 1975.
       ``Women are afraid to sing salsa,'' she once said. ``I 
     don't know why. Maybe they think it's for men.'' She added, 
     ``But I think everybody can sing everything.''
       She continued to modernize her music, working with Miami-
     based producers like Willy Chirino and Emilio Estefan and 
     with Sergio George in New York, who produced her most recent 
     albums. She also collaborated with many of the musicians who 
     admired her, among them Luciano Pavarotti, Gloria Estefan, 
     David Byrne of Talking Heads and the Brazilian songwriter 
     Caetano Veloso.
       In 1989, Ms. Cruz won a Grammy award for best tropical 
     Latin performance for an album in collaboration with Mr. 
     Barretto, ``Ritmo en el Corazon.'' In 1989, Yale University 
     awarded Ms. Cruz an honorary doctorate (alongside Stephen 
     Hawking), and in 1990 the main street of Little Havana in 
     Miami, Calle Ocho, added the name Celia Cruz Way. In 1994, 
     President Clinton gave her the National Medal of Arts. She 
     won the first Latin Grammy Award for best tropical album in 
     2000. Until last year, Ms. Cruz continued to perform and 
     record constantly on an international circuit that included 
     jazz festivals and arena concerts along with Latin clubs.
       She had surgery for a brain tumor in December 2002, but in 
     February she returned to the studio to record an album, 
     ``Regalo de Alma,'' that is due for release Aug. 5 on Sony 
     Discos. That same month, her 2002 album, ``La Negra Tiene 
     Tumbao,'' won the Grammy Award for best salsa album. In 
     March, the Telemundo network broadcast a live concert tribute 
     to Ms. Cruz, in which she performed alongside other Latin 
     stars, including Marc Anthony, to raise money for the Celia 
     Cruz Foundation for Hispanic students to study music. It will 
     give its first five grants on her birthday this year, Oct. 
     21.
                                  ____

       [From the Washington Post, July 17, 2003]

                            Sugar and Salsa

                          (By Eugene Robinson)

       Celia Cruz, the Cuban singer who became the queen of Latin 
     music, died yesterday at her home in Fort Lee, N.J. She was 
     77.
       The cause was complications after surgery for a brain 
     tumor, said a spokeswoman, Blanca Lasalle.
       Onstage, Ms. Cruz was a petite woman who wore tight, 
     glittering dresses and towering wigs, dancing in high heels 
     and belting songs that she punctuated with shouts of 
     ``Azucar!'' (``Sugar!''). She was a vocal powerhouse, with a 
     tough, raspy voice that could ride the percussive attack of a 
     rumba or bring hard-won emotion to a lovelorn Cuban son.
       ``When people hear me sing,'' she said in an interview with 
     The New York Times, ``I want them to be happy, happy, happy. 
     I don't want them thinking about when there's not any money, 
     or when there's fighting at home. My message is always 
     felicidad--happiness.''
       In a career that began in the 1940's, Ms. Cruz sang with 
     every major Latin bandleader and recorded more than 70 
     albums. She sang a full spectrum of Afro-Cuban music, from 
     the religious chants of santeria to mambos and cha-chas to 
     modern salsa. Yet unlike many of the Latin musicians in her 
     wake, she didn't court a crossover audience. She recorded in 
     Spanish, modestly saying that her English was not good 
     enough.
       Ms. Cruz was born in Havana to a poor family, and she 
     regularly sang her brothers and sisters to sleep. She won a 
     radio talent contest after a cousin took her to the radio 
     station Garcia Serra; first prize was a cake. She went on to 
     study at the Havana Conservatory and to sing on radio 
     programs. In 1950, she joined La Sonora Matancera, Cuba's 
     most popular band. ``I wanted to be a mother, a teacher and a 
     housewife,'' she told The New York Times. ``But when I began 
     to sing with La Sonora Matancera, I thought, `This is my 
     chance, and I'm going to do it.'''
       She toured with the group constantly, sometimes singing 
     five sets a day; they were also headliners at Havana's most 
     celebrated nightclub, the Tropicana, and performed on radio 
     and television. But in 1960, a year after Fidel Castro took 
     power in Cuba, she was touring Mexico with La Sonora 
     Matancera and decided not to return to Cuba. Years later, 
     Cuba refused permission for her to attend her father's 
     funeral.
       Ms. Cruz moved to New York in 1961, and later to Fort Lee. 
     In 1962, she married Pedro Knight, a trumpeter from La Sonora 
     Matancera who became her musical director and manager. He 
     survives her, along with two sisters, Gladys Becquer and 
     Dolores Cruz.
       In New York, she held on to her Cuban roots while adding 
     some of the city's Puerto Rican and later Dominican elements 
     to her music. She sang with Tito Puente's orchestra in the 
     1960's, a collaboration she periodically renewed through the 
     next decades, and in the 1970's she also sang with 
     bandleaders like Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon and Ray 
     Barretto. She performed with the Fania All-Stars at Yankee 
     Stadium in 1975.
       ``Women are afraid to sing salsa,'' she once said. ``I 
     don't know why. Maybe they think it's for men.'' She added, 
     ``But I think everybody can sing everything.''
       She continued to modernize her music, working with Miami-
     based producers like Willy Chirino and Emilio Estefan and 
     with Sergio George in New York, who produced her most recent 
     albums. She also collaborated with many of the musicians who 
     admired her, among them Luciano Pavarotti, Gloria Estefan, 
     David Byrne of Talking Heads and the Brazilian songwriter 
     Caetano Veloso.
       In 1989, Ms. Cruz won a Grammy award for best tropical 
     Latin performance for an album in collaboration with Mr. 
     Barretto, ``Ritmo en el Corazon.'' In 1989, Yale University 
     awarded Ms. Cruz an honorary doctorate (alongside Stephen 
     Hawking), and in 1990 the main street of Little Havana in 
     Miami, Calle Ocho, added the name Celia Cruz Way. In 1994, 
     President Clinton gave her the National Medal of Arts. She 
     won the first Latin Grammy Award for best tropical album in 
     2000. Until last year, Ms. Cruz continued to perform and 
     record constantly on an international circuit that included 
     jazz festivals and arena concerts along with Latin clubs.

[[Page 18746]]

       She had surgery for a brain tumor in December 2002, but in 
     February she returned to the studio to record an album, 
     ``Regalo de Alma,'' that is due for release Aug. 5 on Sony 
     Discos. That same month, her 2002 album, ``La Negra Tiene 
     Tumbao,'' won the Grammy Award for best salsa album. In 
     March, the Telemundo network broadcast a live concert tribute 
     to Ms. Cruz, in which she performed alongside other Latin 
     stars, including Marc Anthony, to raise money for the Celia 
     Cruz Foundation for Hispanic students to study music. It will 
     give its first five grants on her birthday this year, October 
     21.

                          ____________________