Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso, known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname "La Guarachera de Cuba". In the following decades, she became known internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" due to her contributions to Latin music. She had sold over 10 million records, making her one of the best-selling Latin music artists.
3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group De La Soul, released on February 6, 1989, by Tommy Boy Records. It was the first of three collaborations with the producer Prince Paul, and was the critical and commercial peak of both parties. The album title comes from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". The album contains the singles "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know".
Fania Records is a New York–based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from a popular luncheonette frequented by musicians in Havana, Cuba that Masucci frequented when he worked for a public relations firm there during the pre-Castro era. Fania is known for its promotion of salsa music.
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez, better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe is considered to be possibly the best and most important singer and interpreter in the history of salsa music because he helped to establish the popularity of this musical genre in the decades of 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His personality, style and the qualities of his voice led him to a successful artistic career in the whole field of Latin music and salsa during the 1970s and 1980s. The cleanness and brightness of his voice, coupled with impeccable diction and the ability to sing long and fast phrases with total naturalness, made him one of the favorite singers of the Latin public.
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Latin jazz. His first hit, "El Watusi", was recorded by his Charanga Moderna in 1962, becoming the most successful pachanga song in the United States. In the late 1960s, Barretto became one of the leading exponents of boogaloo and what would later be known as salsa. Nonetheless, many of Barretto's recordings would remain rooted in more traditional genres such as son cubano. A master of the descarga, Barretto was a long-time member of the Fania All-Stars. His success continued into the 1970s with songs such as "Cocinando" and "Indestructible". His last album for Fania Records, Soy dichoso, was released in 1990. He then formed the New World Spirit jazz ensemble and continued to tour and record until his death in 2006. He is the father of American vocalist and saxophonist Chris Barretto, best known for his work with Periphery and Monuments.
Linda Bell Viera Caballero, known professionally as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album.
Premio Lo Nuestro 2003 was the 15th anniversary of the awards. the show was hosted by Mexican presenters Marco Antonio Regil and Adal Ramones. Juanes, Thalía, Marc Anthony, Pilar Montenegro, Sin Bandera, Banda el Recodo and other Latin music greats gave electrifying performances. In the show, there was 36 awards winners with 135 nominations. In Pop genre, Awards was given for : Album of the Year, Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group or duo, Best New Artist and Song of the Year. In Rock Genre : Best Rock Album and Best rock Performer of the Year. In Tropical genre : Best Tropical Album of the Year, Best Tropical Male Artist, Best Tropical Female Artist, Best Tropical Group or Duo of the Year, Best Tropical New Artist, Tropical Song of the Year, Best Merengue Performance, Best Salsa Performance and Best Traditional Performance. Juanes was the biggest winner of night, took home four awards Best Pop Male Artist, Best Music Video, Best Rock Performance, and Pop Song of the Year. In the Regional Mexican, Pilar Montenegro took three awards for Regional Mexican Song of the Year, Pop Song of the Year, and for Best Regional Mexican Female Artist. In the tropical genre, Celia Cruz took home with four great awards of the night for Best Salsa Performance, Best Tropical Female Artist, Best Tropical Song of the year and Tropical Album of the Year. At the night, the greatest performance was a medley of top Latin hits from the last 15 years, performed by the artists that made them famous, including Vikki Carr, Son by Four, Los Ilegales, La Mafia, Luis Enrique, Wilfrido Vargas and Olga Tañón. There was a great tribute to Celia Cruz by the world-famous salsa group "Fania All-Stars", of which Cruz was a member during the 1970s, reunited for an exclusive performance that rocked the house.
Live at the Regal is a 1965 live album by American blues guitarist and singer B.B. King. It was recorded on November 21, 1964, at the Regal Theater in Chicago. The album is widely heralded as one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded and was ranked at number 141 in Rolling Stone's 2003 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, before dropping to number 299 in a 2020 revision. In 2005, Live at the Regal was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States.
Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco, known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New York salsa scene in the 1960s and 1970s as the founder and musical director of Fania Records.
"Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album Stand by Your Man. It proved to be the most successful record of Wynette's career, and is one of the most familiar songs in country music. The song was placed at number one on CMT's list of the Top 100 Country Music Songs.
"Oye Cómo Va" is a 1962 cha-cha-chá song by Tito Puente, originally released on El Rey Bravo. The song achieved worldwide popularity when it was covered by American rock group Santana for their album Abraxas. This version was released as a single in 1971, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 11 on the Billboard Easy Listening survey, and number 32 on the R&B chart. The block chord ostinato pattern that repeats throughout the song was most likely borrowed by Puente from Cachao's 1957 mambo "Chanchullo", which was recorded by Puente in 1959.
Regalo del Alma is the final studio album recorded by Cuban salsa recording artist Celia Cruz, released posthumously on 29 July 2003 by Sony Music Latin, following Cruz's death from brain cancer on July 16, 2003. It is Cruz's seventieth album.
Siembra (transl. "Sowing") is the second studio album by Panamanian singer and songwriter Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican-American singer and trombonist Willie Colón. It was released through Fania Records on 7 September 1978. It is considered the best selling salsa album in the history of salsa music. Was recorded by Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco at the La Tierra Sound Studios between 1977 and 1978.
La Negra Tiene Tumbao is the 59th album recorded by Cuban salsa recording artist Celia Cruz. It was released by Sony Music on 2 October 2001. It featured musical collaborations with Mikey Perfecto and Johnny Pacheco and was produced by Sergio George, Isidro Infante, Pacheco, Oscar Gomez, and Angel Carrasco.
"La Vida Es Un Carnaval" is a song performed by Cuban recording artist Celia Cruz. The song was written by Victor Daniel, produced by Isidro Infante, arranged by Isidro Infante and released as the lead single from Cruz's studio album Mi Vida Es Cantar (1998). The song won the award for Tropical Song of the Year at the 2003 Lo Nuestro Awards.
"Ríe y Llora" (English: "Laugh and Cry") is a song performed by Cuban recording artist Celia Cruz. The song was written by Sergio George and Fernando Osorio, produced by George and released as the lead single from Cruz's final studio album Regalo del Alma (2003) on 12 July 2003. It was the final song recorded by Cruz, following being sidelined by a brain tumor and before her death on 16 July 2003.
"Ella Tiene Fuego" (English: "She Has Fire") is a song performed by Cuban recording artist Celia Cruz. It features Panamanian recording artist El General. The song was written by Sergio George and Fernando Osorio, produced by George and released as the second single from Cruz's final studio album Regalo del Alma (2003) on 20 December 2003.
¡Celia Cruz: Azúcar! was a tribute special held in honor of Cuban performer Celia Cruz. It was hosted by American singer Marc Anthony and Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan. It featured musical performances by various Latin music and Anglo performers including Victor Manuelle, Paulina Rubio, José Feliciano, Milly Quezada, Los Tri-O, Gloria Estefan, Patti LaBelle, Arturo Sandoval, Ana Gabriel, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, Albita, Johnny Pacheco, Alfredo de la Fe, Alicia Villareal, Olga Tañón, Mikey Perfecto, José Alberto "El Canario", Rosario, Luis Enrique, Marc Anthony and Gloria Gaynor. This was Cruz's final public appearance, before her death in July 2003. The tribute concert raised $145,000 for the Celia Cruz Foundation.
Literal is the 14th studio album by Dominican singer, songwriter and producer Juan Luis Guerra. It was released on 31 May 2019 by Universal Music Latin. Written and produced by Juan Luis Guerra, the album contains eleven tracks and encompasses a variety of tropical genres, such as bachata, merengue, salsa and son along with influences from jazz, gospel, rock and Dominican folk music. The album was co-produced by Guerra's longtime collaboration and musical director Janina Rosado. It has lyrics about romance, love, nostalgia, moving on and protest against corruption.
Azúcar pa' ti is a 1965 album recorded by Eddie Palmieri and released by Tico Records. The album was Palmieri's most successful album, and included one of his biggest songs, "Azucar", an eight-minute descarga-esque song. The album also included the original recording of "Oyelo que te conviene", which was later recorded on his 1975 album Unfinished Masterpiece along with lead vocalist Lalo Rodríguez.
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