"Singing is my life. It has always been my life. It will always be my life."

• Born Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on Oct. 21, 1925, in Havana, Cuba. Died July 16, 2003, in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
   
• Cruz reached international fame in 1974 with Celia Y Johnny, a collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated Cuban composer/bandleader Johnny Pacheco that spawned "Quimbara," one of her signature hits.
   
• Cruz's 1986 album, Ritmo En El Corazon, brought home her first career GRAMMY for Best Tropical Latin Performance at the 32nd GRAMMY Awards.
   
• She won Salsa Performance for Celia Cruz And Friends: A Night Of Salsa at the inaugural Latin GRAMMY Awards in 2000.
   
• The Queen of Salsa was posthumously presented with a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
   
• She also founded the Celia Cruz Foundation, a nonprofit charity dedicated to raising funds for underprivileged students wishing to study music.