Get the latest gossip

‘The Goddess Of Goddesses’: Queen Of Salsa Celia Cruz Remembered By Emilio Estefan, La India, Randy Malcom and Goyo

Celia Cruz is remembered by her peers ahead of Billboard's 2025 Latin Women in Music Gala, where the late icon will be honored with the Legend Award.

By the time she died in 2003 at age 77, Cruz had over 70 albums to her name and had transfixed generations of fans with her mesmerizing stage presence and a signature, rich, expressive contralto that could turn a single word into a masterpiece of a song. The item joins a list of Cruz memorabilia that includes a stamp, a doll, multiple exhibits, merchandise lines and both a TV series and film in the works, among other projects. Cruz gained international acclaim with La Sonora, with whom she remained for 15 years, eventually marrying lead trumpet player Pedro Knight.

Get the Android app