Until a few months ago, the most I knew about Celia Cruz, other than being familiar with a couple of her songs, was that she had an iconic sense of style and that her wigs were next level in their colors and designs.
Then, I stumbled upon the Netflix "Bio-Drama" loosely based on her life, and I fell in love with that woman and her story. I actually really enjoyed learning more about her younger years in Cuba, both the storylines around how she was discovered as a star, as well as her fateful romance that led to her marriage to the one and only lover in her life, Pedro Knight.
I related to her experience as a late teen/young adult who had been raised in a strict family with a rather religious and controlling father who was a bit wary of the moral implications of the budding fierceness that was arising within their daughters' young, ambitious and creative spirits. I also related to how Celia was viewed as unattractive and not the right aesthetic for the career she wanted to pursue as a singer. The racism within not just Cuban society but in the record industry was touched on quite a bit throughout the 80-episode series about Celia. Her dark skin and wide nose were seen as signs of undesirability at first and would have been a huge deterrence in her career, had it not been for the sheer magnificence and uniqueness of her voice and her exquisite talent as a singer and performer.
Images of Celia Cruz from the early years of her career.
