I found this wonderful tribute to Celia Cruz on YouTube.
A young Cuban hip-hop band (Don Dinero) have done a remix of Celia performing the old Cuban classic song ‘Son De La Loma’ (They’re From La Loma).
(Or as these guys put it – Unless they’re from the Yuma, in which case they speak English)
Celia Cruz is one of my favourite musicians of all time, with a career that spanned 50 years, singing at the height of latin jazz and salsa for most of that time. I was lucky enough to see her perform live a few years before she died. I got the tickets at very short notice so took our first-born daughter, then aged seven. It was at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire Theatre and we were there early enough to dash to the front. Jose Alberto (‘El Canario’) from Puerto Rico was supporting and we managed to hold on to our front row position through his terrific act (I LOVE Jose Alberto!). And then Celia came on, aged almost 80, wearing a huge, gleaming blonde wig. She sang and danced with energy that would put most 40-year olds to shame! At one point she asked the audience what they wanted to hear. “La Guagua” (The Bus), people yelled. Celia glanced at her band. “They’ll have to read it from the music…” she said a little apologetically.
A couple of years later Celia became ill from a brain tumour and died. She was unforgettable and I’ll bet we’ll never see her equal.
It’s good to see these young Cuban gangstas pay tribute to their musical origins.
My favourite line from these rappers is:
Celia…Guantanamera…We miss you and we love you.
Celia… I REALLY miss you.
3 replies on “Tribute to Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa”
Hi,
Cool song.
I was wondering, my friend from waterstones is moving to this place just outside of London somewhere in the West, she’s moving January 4th and i was wondering, if ever in you ever so busy schedule, near the release of Joshua Files you could perhaps visit?
Just a thought. Cause shes gona own it. :O So, i thought, she might like an amazing author coming to her bookstore!
I told her to read Joshua Files and she is and she’s really loving it. So, just wondering.
Lukas…
Sure Lukas, if I’m free I’d be glad to. Might be best to get her to contact Georgia at Scholastic, because she’s coordinating these kind of things. Amazing author…sheesh. Glad to hear she’s liking the book!