She won a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Tropical Latin Performance for her song with another salsa legend Ray Barretto (Ritmo en el Corazon). Her birthday is Oct. 21, 1925; she was born in Havana, Cuba.
On July 16, 2003, Cruz died of brain cancer at her home in Florida at age 77. Her husband, Pedro Knight died in 2007. She had no children. After her death she was allowed to lie in state at Freedom Tower in Miami where more than 200,000 people paid respect.
