Azucar!

My Cuban grandfather sent me an email entirely in spanish about the funeral for Celia Cruz, the "Queen of Salsa." Since I (ashamedly) don't speak a word of spanish, I will just link to this Reuters article instead.

Cruz was a star when she left the Caribbean island in 1960 and with her exuberant voice, shimmering dresses and colorful wigs went on to become much-loved grande dame of Latin music whose Grammy Award-winning career reached into her later years and produced more than 70 albums.

Her music was banned on the island, even though many Cubans still listened to her. When she died, the Cuban government gave the news the briefest of mentions, describing her as an important musician who had long been an activist for "counterrevolutionaries" in south Florida.

Cruz had long said she would never sing again in Cuba until it was "free." That, as well as her music, made her an iconic figure for Miami's often fiercely anti-Castro Cuban community.

Another sad loss for the performing arts. Perhaps if there were more performers like Celia Cruz today, people would be more willing to actually pay for albums instead of file-swapping them.