The Career of Celia Cruz - Article Example

Celia became fond of the religious Yoruba music, studying the words and even creating some of her recordings in the same style. As a teenager, Celia's aunt helped to encourage Celia’s love of music, taking her to cabarets to sing, but Celia’s father had other plans. He wanted his daughter to remain in school and study to become a teacher; one of Celia’s teachers, however, further encouraged Celia’s musical talent, telling her that she could make a great salary as a musician than a teacher makes in a month.

Before Celia’s career, as her fans know it, Celia was singing in Havana’s radio station broadcast, which featured numerous contests. Celia won the majority of the contests, receiving cakes as prizes and offers to participate in future contests. Though she made many recordings for radio stations, Celia’s first major recordings were made in Venezuela in 1948. It was in 1950 when Celia was thirty-four that she made the greatest breakthrough in her career. After the lead singer of the famous Cuban orchestra, Sonora Mantancera, left the group, Celia was offered the permanent position. Original fans of the group were not happy with this arrangement, but they quickly warmed up to Celia and her music. Celia remained a member of the group for fifteen years.

Celia experienced many wonderful events during her time as a musician. In 1966, Celia and Tito Puente collaborated on eight albums together. They did not do as well as they had hoped until they joined a different recording company. When Celia joined this other company, Vaya Records, she was introduced to and began working with the famous pianist Larry Harlow. It was not long before Celia was the headline performer at New York’s Carnegie Hall, an honor for any musician. In 1974, Celia was accepted into the group known as Fania All-Stars, which consisted of all of the top salsa musicians. From the later 1970s until the early 2000s, Celia toured around the world, performing in multiple concerts and television shows. During her time as a musician, Celia received seven awards, including three Grammys.

Celia’s greatest impact on the world of salsa involved the fact that she was the first female African American salsa singer. She brought to this Latin music genre a new sound, changing the way that people heard and enjoyed salsa. She is considered to be the best-known and most influential female artist in Cuban music history. Read More