"Azúcar!"

It is five years since we lost the "Queen of Salsa" Celia Cruz - and what a loss!

Úrsula Hilaria Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso was born in 1925 in Havana, Cuba, and became a superstar in Latin America at a very early age. After the Castro takeover of Cuba however, she and her band refused to return, and Celia lived for the rest of her life in the USA.

A giant of the Latin American and Cuban music world, she worked in partnership with the master of Mambo and band-leader Tito Puente for many years and became known for her trademark shout "¡Azúcar!", ("Sugar!" in Spanish). During the 70s Celia and her collaborating musicians of the Fania All-Stars went on to tour the world with their infectious Latin-fusion brand of music, and by the 1990s she was undoubtedly the "Queen", winning a Grammy Award and the National Medal of Arts presented by Bill Clinton.

After her death in 2003, her body was taken to Miami to lie in state, and more than 200,000 of her fans paid their final respects. RIP, Celia Cruz.

Here she is, showing the young whipper-snappers how it should be done, at the Tito Puente tribute show in 2000:

Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan

Celia Cruz online