The Salseros: Now

Since its explosion in the 1970’s, there have been many Salsa singers, too many to discuss here. I will touch on two: Celia Cruz and Marc Anthony.

Celia Cruz was around since Salsa’s early days, and still lives on even after her death. She recorded with many great musicians during her more than 50-year career and transcended race, language, and genres, earning her the well deserved title of Queen of Salsa. Young and old knew of her and appreciated her charm, talent, spectacular stage presence, and her trademark motto: Azucar!

She began her singing career in her homeland of Cuba, and continued it in America in 1965 by forming a band with Tito Puente and recording eight albums with him. She went on to record with other greats, such as: Oscar D’Leon, Johnny Pacheco, and The Fania All Stars. She was continuously recording and performing, and many of her songs were remixed and even became dance hits, such as 2001’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao. She recorded her last album, Regalo de Alma (Gift of the Soul), in early 2003, a few months before her death from a brain tumor.

Since her catalog is so extensive, to make recommendations of her best work would be difficult. Here are some of her standout songs: Quimbara, La Vida Es Un Carnaval, Burandanga, La Negra Tiene Tumbao. There are some Best Of’s and live albums out there, and those would be a good start. Also, there are Fania All Stars compilations, which would give listeners a taste of classic Celia, along with exposing them to other stars of Latin music.