Cruz, who defected from Cuba with the group in 1960, became a cultural icon. Her presence spanned music, film and fashion. She made cameos in Mexican films and famously collaborated with Tito Puente.

Cruz, who died in 2003 in New Jersey at the age of 77, is the 14th woman honored by the U.S. Mint’s American Quarters Program since 2022 and the fourth woman to appear on a quarter in 2024.

In 2024, the late Celia Cruz will be the first Afro Latina face on a U.S. quarter, part of the American Women Quarters series that also honors suffragettes, civil rights defenders, abolitionists ...

Celia Cruz lived in New Jersey from the 1960s until her death in 2003. She will be the first Afro-Latina on U.S. currency.

Salsa music icon, Celia Cruz, will soon be the first Afro Latina to be featured on a United States quarter. La guarachera de Cuba and the queen of salsa is making history nearly 20 years after her ...

The late Afro-Cuban salsa legend Celia Cruz left an indelible imprint on Latin music. In New York City, fans remembered the "Queen of Salsa" in a moving Hispanic Heritage Month tribute.

Left: Celia Cruz at the 2000 Latin Grammys. (Rose Prouser/Reuters) <br/> Right: Aymee Nuviola as Celia Cruz at the 2002 Latin Grammys in “Celia.” (Juan Manuel Garcia/Telemundo) ...