(b Santos Suarez, Havana, 21 Oct 1924). Cuban popular singer. She was a gifted child singer and, after winning a radio talent competition in 1947, enrolled in the Havana Conservatory. The first groups she performed with included Las Mulatas del Fuego and the Orchestra Gloria Matancera. In 1950 she joined the world-renowned Sonora Matancera, performing with them for nearly 15 years and establishing her international fame. She left Cuba after Castro rose to power in 1959, and settled in the USA, marrying the trumpet player Pedro Knight in 1962. Although she recorded with the percussionist Tito Puente between 1966 and 1972, Cruz settled into semi-retirement during the 1960s. Her career was revitalized in 1973 by her performance of ‘Gracia Divina’ in Larry Harlow’s salsa opera Hommy. She spent the next several years performing with Johnny Pacheco and other members of the Fania entourage, and remained active in the late 1990s.
Cruz has recorded over 70 albums with the most important names in international salsa, including Johnny Pacheco, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Papo Lucca, Willie Colón, Oscar D’León and La India. She has become an indispensable member of the Fania All-Stars and La Combinación Perfecta. She also starred in the 1992 movie The Mambo Kings. Her rich voice and inimitable swing have earned two Grammy awards and four Grammy nominations. Among her many fans, Cruz is renowned for her renditions of Quimbará, Bemba colora, Yerbero moderno, Usted abusó, Sopa en botella and Cuban classics such as Cao cao mani picao. Among fellow musicians she is acclaimed for her musicianship and uncanny ability to perform new material without rehearsal. In the early 1990s Cruz received an honorary doctorate from Yale and was also awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
LISE WAXER