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The Recording Academy cracked open the treasure chest as soon as once more and dug up that treasured reminiscence of Celia Cruz profitable a Latin GRAMMY for Finest Salsa Efficiency within the yr 2000 for the dwell album A Night time Out of Salsa, which she recorded together with her late pricey buddy Tito Puente. This was additionally a historic win because it was the very first award within the very first Latin GRAMMY Awards ceremony. The touching clip reveals the Queen of Salsa bursting with Vita power as she poured out her heartfelt thanks-the scene that continues to maintain this girl alive in historical past within the current day.
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She danced towards the stage with such power! Once more earlier than she uttered a single phrase, her majestic voice had crammed the entire place. “That is such a shock, my mom,” she hollered in Spanish, hugging the award. “They’re going to kill me from coronary heart palpitations!”
Each single second was caught by the digicam. She gave because of God; then the Academy; then she thanked herself, her husband Pedro Knight, standing beside her holding her tiny purse in a quiet method, fairly the other to her whirlwind pleasure; she thanked her collaborators, India and Johnny Pacheco; then got here the chills, thanking her “brother,” the late Tito Puente, who died earlier that yr. “He left us, however tonight he’s right here with us,” she stated, choking up with emotion. The viewers exploded right into a frenzy: They joined her in chanting his identify, “Tito Puente! Tito Puente!” On and on, remodeling her acceptance speech right into a heartfelt buzzing tribute.
Followers poured out love and fond reminiscences within the feedback. “How nice this video is, it at all times strikes me. What an excellent legacy you will have left us. Relaxation in peace,” says one consumer. Others felt the identical presence of Rooster on their screens.
One other spectator picked up on a pleasant little second: “And Pedro holding Celia’s little purse… she actually was a queen.” The little second stated greater than phrases about their relationship-he supported her so she may shine.
Then got here essentially the most touching remark from a fan who reversed that well-known coronary heart palpitations’ comment: “We didn’t kill her from coronary heart palpitations. She killed all of us when she left.” It was each an acknowledgment of her demise and an admission of the void she created.
A number of feedback burdened how robust her presence was. “Nobody can exchange the queen. Nobody has been born who can substitute her. A legend without end,” feedback one, talking for everybody who’s of the agency perception of Celia Cruz being and without end will stand as actually incomparable.
One other fan shared that his/her life remains to be influenced every day by her music: “This girl marked and nonetheless marks my life simply by listening to her tunes. Celia is all the things, without end.”
The facility was not only for Spanish audio system. A Brazilian fan shouted, “Celia Cruz is MARVELOUS!! Lengthy dwell this Cuban DIVA!!” The Banco proved she has affect past borders and languages.
Some feedback went extra culturally descriptive, calling her “a very powerful Hispanic-American determine of the second half of the twentieth century.” Excessive reward, but who can argue with such an accolade given her large affect and ongoing reputation?
Celia’s trademark cry Azúcar! distinguished the speech. It served as joyous reminders of the life she breathed into each one in every of her performances. Even in moments of such honors, she was nonetheless the performer, the icon, the girl who shared her “sugar” with all people.
The GRAMMYs’ resolution to return and relive that second was nothing in need of impressed. The occasion was not only a celebration over a win; quite, it was one thing to name back-the feeling, the good pleasure, the utmost respect for fallen legends, and the facility of music to bind, to unify. What we have now is a gala being thrown by Celia Cruz not solely within the act of accepting an award however in firm with each single invitee.
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Having emerged two and 4 years later, the video nonetheless doesn’t really feel like an artifact. It’s alive. It’s a mutual reminder that nice artwork is never about notes and lyrics; it’s about coronary heart. Celia Cruz actually had greater than sufficient coronary heart to present away. Her legacy isn’t in merely the awards or information; it’s within the unabated heartfelt emotion that also flows her approach through a single clip. That’s energy. That’s Azúcar.
