MIAMI, United States. – July 16, 2023 will mark the 20th anniversary of the farewell to the unforgettable Celia Cruz, the Cuban Guarachera, who died in exile in New Jersey, United States. the legendary Queen of Salsa She is still alive in the memories of her fans and in the heart of her executor, Omer Pardillo, who prepares various commemorations in her honor in Miami and New York.
“Celia was a very professional woman who carried out everything she set out to do, with effort,” said Pardillo in an exclusive interview with EFE. “She didn’t let her fame change her. She was always very close to the ground ”. Pardillo, who met Celia Cruz when he was 14 years old, was “impacted with her energy” from her.
On the anniversary of her death, the Cuban Parade in New York will be dedicated to the great interpreter. In Miami Beach, a street will be named in her honor. Pardillo mentioned that the singer frequently traveled to Miami to do television programs and she always stopped at the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, patron saint of Cuba.
“It’s a very appropriate place,” Pardillo said of the Hermitage in the Coconut Grove neighborhood. “Even if it was at dawn, even if it was five minutes, but I visited the Hermitage. She was very devoted ”to the Virgin of Charity.
As part of the commemorative program, a bench will be named in honor of Celia Cruz in front of the Malecón de la Ermita.
Celia Cruz among the best singers, according to the magazine “Rolling Stone”
This year, the reissue of the autobiographical book is also expected Celia: my life (2004), in which the famous singer narrated her career to the journalist Ana Cristina Reymundo. “A complete update of data, photos and brings a new cover,” Pardillo explained about the new edition, which will be available on Amazon starting in September.
Since her death, the singer has been honored with the US Congressional Gold Medal, in addition to multiple record releases, exhibitions with her personal items, charity marathons, carnivals and worldwide tributes.
The legacy of Celia Cruz, the voice behind great hits like Life is a party and I will live, continues to shine despite his absence. Although he never returned to Cuba after his exile, he did visit the Guantánamo Naval Base in 1990. “There she took a handful of land to take it to New York,” recalled Pardillo, who organized Celia’s funeral “in the way she deserved.”
Celia’s coffin crossed the George Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan with New Jersey, and the inhabitants of the Latino neighborhoods came out to applaud. “That was when I realized that Celia had died,” Pardillo confessed to EFE.
