Beside, her indisputable talent, Celia Cruz had the qualities destined to take an artist to the highest level. She was passionate and able to transmit that passion to any audience, she loved people and she had a great sense of humor. She was a god performer, she could act well and the best role she played was when she was on stage. The record label that definitively set her among the greatest salsa players and launched her albums between the 1960s and the 1980s, during the pick of her carrier, was Fania. "The artists who signed with the Fania label proved that New York had forged a new Latin sound that was unique and that spoke to people in other Latin American cities, making salsa a Latin American musical movement as well" (Smithsonian, National Museum of American History).

Celia Cruz belongs to Cuba and...

just as she belongs to the whole world. With a style of her own, she enchanted audiences around the world, singing in London, England, Cannes, France, and Zaire, Africa (Musician Guide).
Novas, Himilce. Everything You Need to Know about Latino History: 2008 Edition. Plume, 2007.

Cruz, Celia. Reymundo, Cristina. Celia: My Life. HarperCollins. 2004

Celia Cruz. Hispanic Heritage. GALE CENGAGE Learning. Retrieved: Nov. 04, 2008. Available at http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/bio/cruz_c.htm

Ruiz, Vicki. Korrol, Virginia Sanchez. Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press, 2006.

Celia Cruz Biography. Retrieved: Nov. 04, 2008. Available at http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000285/Celia-Cruz.html