USA: CUBAN SALSA SINGER CELIA CRUZ IS NOMINATED FOR 5 LATIN GRAMMY'S FOR HER LATEST ALBUM "LA NEGRA TIENE TUMBAO".

Record ID: 392989

  • Title: USA: CUBAN SALSA SINGER CELIA CRUZ IS NOMINATED FOR 5 LATIN GRAMMY'S FOR HER LATEST ALBUM "LA NEGRA TIENE TUMBAO".
  • Date: 5th August 2002
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 5, 2002) (REUTERS) SCU: SOUNDBITE (Spanish) CELIA CRUZ SAYING: "Other singers of my generation have died, but I stayed. I'm still here and I'm almost the only one and so I feel good that everybody points at me as the principal singer of the music in Cuba and in Latin America also."
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7H1IJ537K6Y9CGORZHU3K1CNY
  • Story Text: The Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz is still going strong after more than 40 years in the music business and with five Latin Grammy nominations this year for her latest album "La Negra Tiene Tumbao," the Cuban sensation shows no signs of slowing down.
    Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz has recorded more than 70 albums and received more than a hundred awards including fourteen Grammy nominations with her first win in 1989. She has appeared in about ten movies, including "The Mambo Kings"
    and "The Perez Family." Now in her 70s, Cruz is still recording, still performing, and still going strong.
    "Other singers of my generation have died, but I stayed.
    I'm still here and I'm almost the only one and so I feel good that everybody points at me as the principal singer of the music in Cuba and in Latin America also," Cruz told Reuters.
    In 1960, Cruz left her homeland of Cuba for the United States. That decade, she recorded several albums with maestro Tito Puente and together they sparked an interest in salsa among Anglo and European audiences, known as "the Salsa of the 70s." She thinks salsa is still the most important for of Latin music.
    "I think salsa is No. 1 in the world of Latin music -- for how happy it is; because the people like it. Let's say I'm at a party and I'm playing salsa, the minute I play something slower, the people sit down," said the legendary singer.
    In 2000, Cruz won her first Latin Grammy award for best tropical music recording. She won again in 2001 for best traditional tropical album and this year, is nominated for the prize in five categories. Cruz said she's glad the Latin Grammys were created to honor Latin music with a separate award, but hopes more women will be recognized in the future.
    "Generally, they just nominate men and so honestly, the women are disappointed. It was sad for me, but then I realized if I don't win, it doesn't matter; I have the applause of the audience," Cruz said.
    And she has the love of her fans which come from around the world and, certainly, from her native Cuba. Cruz said she sometimes gets homesick.
    "Yes, I miss it, of course, because there, I was a queen.
    They loved me; I was No. 1. But my music is still there. The people buy my albums; when I'm on TV, they record the shows.
    For example, when there's a show, I call my family two days after and they say, we saw it! So I'm really happy that my music has continued success, including in Cuba, because I'm from Cuba," she told Reuters.
    And as long as her music is successful, she says she'll keep going:
    "I don't want to retire. Right now, thank God, my voice is in the best condition ever and I sing all the songs the same in perfect pitch. I feel great, but if I go on stage and the audience isn't there, I'll start thinking about retiring. If the ask me to sing a certain song and when I'm about to sing I feel I can't get it out, then too, I'll have to leave. To leave a good impression."
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