Salsa Queen Cruz Remembered
As Beverly and Fidel Cibeira waited under the blazing sun Saturday afternoon to pay their respects to salsa legend and fellow Cuban exile Celia Cruz, the couple remembered dancing to her music when they started dating decades ago.
"Listening to Celia is like going to Cuba," said Fidel Cibeira, 70, of Miami.
They joined thousands of mourners lining the streets outside the Freedom Tower, waiting to view the body of Cruz, 77. She died Wednesday of a brain tumor at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
The public viewing started at 10 a.m. and was to continue until 7 p.m., followed by a procession to Gesu Catholic Church, where a memorial Mass will be celebrated.
The line of fans waiting to see the body of the salsa queen at one point stretched for more than five blocks for the viewing at the Freedom Tower. The building is known as the Ellis Island of the Cuban community, where more than 500,000 Cubans who fled Fidel Castro's government in the 1960s were processed by immigration officials.
Many mourners held roses, some waved Cuban flags and most tried to stay out of the hot sun with umbrellas or floppy hats in the Cuban national colors of red, white and blue. Many yelled Cruz' catch phrase of "Azucar!," or sugar in Spanish.
Cruz was immensely popular in Miami, where Calle Ocho, the main street running through the city's Cuban community, has the honorary name of Celia Cruz Way.
Waiting in line was Nila Alvarez, 68, who said she first met Cruz when they both lived in Havana and the singer thrilled crowded nightclubs with her lively salsa music.
"She was always an idol, as a person and as an artist," Alvarez said. She said she also gathered with other Cuban-Americans on Calle Ocho on Friday to sing the Cuban national anthem and remember Cruz.
Many wept as they filed by her open casket. But whenever the mood became too somber inside the tower, people erupted in cheers, chanting "Celia, Celia." They clapped their hands to her music, which blared through speakers inside the tower.
The open casket was surrounded by white and purple flowers, as well as American and Cuban flags. On one side, Cruz' husband, trumpeter Pedro Knight, stood dressed in black with other family and friends. On the other side was a wooden crucifix.
Large photographs of Cruz were placed around the tower, showing her through the years, always flashing her wide smile.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Latin music star Carlos Vives and Latin TV talk show host Cristina Saralegui were expected to join the mourners later in the afternoon.
Cruz' body was to be returned to New York on Sunday. On Tuesday, a funeral Mass was set for St. Patrick's Cathedral before Cruz's burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
Cruz came to the United States in 1960, a year after the Cuban revolution. She recorded more than 70 albums.
She won best salsa album for "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" at last year's Latin Grammy Awards, and won the same award at this year's Grammys. Her other best-known recordings include "Yerberito Moderno" and "Que le Den Candela."