2. April 03, 2015
The Queen of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful voice and electrifying rhythm
garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions, multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY®
awards and four Latin GRAMMY® awards, a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, a recognition from the
National Endowment for the arts as well as a Doctorate in music from the universities of Yale, University of
Miami and Florida International University. Her boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated
humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer, and the
world's most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture.
The Queen of Salsa
3. April 03, 2015
Celia Cruz (born Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on October 21, 1924 – July 16,
2003) was a Havana, Cuba born salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of
the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name. She was renowned internationally as the
"Queen of Salsa".
She spent most of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin
American countries.
Celia Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential
female figure in the history of Cuban music." Cruz once said in an interview "If I had a chance I
wouldn't have been singing and dancing, I would be a teacher just like my dad wanted me to be".
9. April 03, 2015
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, Sr., (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), born Ernesto Antonio Puente, Jr., was a Latin
Jazz and Mambo/Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of
Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey" (the King) of the timbales
and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz
compositions that helped keep his career going for 50 years. He and his music appear in many
films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest starred on several
television shows including The Cosby Show and The Simpsons.
During the 1950s, Puente was at the height of his popularity, and
helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, son,
and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences. He moved into more diverse
sounds, eventually settling down with a fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz
genres that became known as "salsa" (a term that he disliked).
son - Son-Cubano (mix of Cuban & African music, played with
guitars)
The "King" of Latin Jazz and Salsa
13. April 03, 2015
Born Selena Quintanilla on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas.
Selena was considered the "Queen of Tejano," a type of Mexican music
that incorporated other styles, such as country.
Selena
Selena sang in Spanish, learning the lyrics phonetically since she understood the
language, but did not speak it at first. She went on to Spanish and later was a fluent
speaker.
Selena became very popular with Tejano music fans and won Best Female Vocalist
of the Year and Performer of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards. Her album
Ven Conmigo (1990) was the first Tejano record to achieve gold record status,
meaning it sold more than 500,000 copies. In 1992, Selena took enough of a break
from her hectic schedule to marry Chris Perez, the band's lead guitarist in April.
Her recordings continued to have strong sales, and she won the Grammy Award for
Best Mexican-American Album in 1993 for her album Live. In 1994, she and the
band played numerous tour dates in New York, California, Puerto Rico, and
Argentina. Amor Prohibido was released that same year and went gold.
Selena went to work on an English-language album that she hoped would put her
on the top of the U.S. pop music charts. Unfortunately, she did not live to see its
success. Selena died on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after being shot
by Yolanda Saldivar, the founder of the Selena fan club. Saldivar had been
managing Selena's boutique in San Antonio and was about to be fired for
embezzling money. Selena's murder sent shockwaves through the Latino
community and her fans around the world mourned the singer's passing.
14. April 03, 2015
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995),
known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-
songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s"
and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard, for
her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart,
including seven number-one hits. She was called "The Queen
of Tejano music"and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.
Tejano music or Tex-Mex Music (Mexican-Texan music) is the name
given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among
the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas.
16. April 03, 2015
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born
Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in
the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman
in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the
1943 movie The Gang's All Here. She is considered the precursor of Brazil's
Tropicalismo.
The "Queen" of Samba
17. April 03, 2015
Carmen Miranda Square is only one of about a dozen Los Angeles city
intersections named for historic performers. The square is located at the
intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive across from Grauman's
Chinese Theater. The location is especially noteworthy not only since Carmen
Miranda's footprints are preserved in concrete at the Chinese Theater's famous
collection, but in remembrance of an impromptu performance at a nearby
Hollywood Boulevard intersection on V-J Day where she was joined by a throng
of servicemen from the nearby USO.
18. April 03, 2015
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre
originating in Africa. It is recognized around the
world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian
Carnival.
22. April 03, 2015
Carlos Gardel (11 December 1887 or 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a singer,
songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history
of tango. His birthplace is disputed between Uruguay and France. He lived in
Argentina from the age of two and acquired Argentine citizenship in 1923. He
grew up in the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He attended Pio IX
Industrial high-school located in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
He died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, becoming an
archetypal tragic hero mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel
embodies the soul of the tango style. He is commonly referred to as
"Carlitos", "El Zorzal" (The Song Thrush), "The King of Tango", "El
Mago" (The Magician) and "El Mudo" (The Mute).
Carlos Gardel Subway Stop -Buenos Aires, Argentina
27. April 03, 2015
Flamenco
Is a form of Spanish folk music and dance from
the region of Andalusia in southern Spain. It
includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing),
baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps).
