Editing Celia Cruz (section)

=== Exile and Tico recordings ===
Cruz was touring in Mexico when [[Fidel Castro]] seized power at the conclusion of the [[Cuban Revolution]]. She returned to Cuba to find her hometown of Havana in turmoil and mostly shut down.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edelman |first1=Claudia Romo |last2=Alexander |first2=William |title=Hispanic Star: Celia Cruz |date=6 September 2022 |publisher=Roaring Brook Press |isbn=978-1-250-82811-8 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjlKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |access-date=17 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Cruz was publicly critical of Castro, a stance that she knew would endanger her career and possibly her freedom, since other critics of the regime were regularly arrested. She also needed money to pay for her ailing mother's medical expenses, and when she was offered a contract to perform for a few months at La Terraza Nightclub in [[Mexico City]], she accepted. Cruz left Cuba on 15 July 1960, not knowing that she would likely never return to her home country.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cartlidge |first1=Cherese |title=Celia Cruz |date=2013 |publisher=Infobase Learning |isbn=978-1-4381-4607-2 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BsNbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 |access-date=17 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Just one week after arriving in Mexico, Cruz received the news of the death of her father, Simón Cruz. In 1961, Cruz and Sonora Matancera left Mexico for an engagement in the United States. During this period, Cruz began performing solo without the group, performing at a recital at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] in [[Los Angeles]].

In 1962, before the refusal of the Cuban government to allow her to return to Cuba, Cruz acquired a house in [[Fort Lee, New Jersey]]. Although she tried to return to Cuba to see her sick mother, who was struggling with terminal bladder cancer, the Cuban government denied her request to return.<ref>{{Cite web|title=CELIA CRUZ NO DESCANSA EN PAZ|url=https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1048042|last=Tiempo|first=Casa Editorial El|date=2003-12-26|website=El Tiempo|language=es|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref> On 7 April 1962, she received the news of the death of her mother Catalina Alfonso. That same year, on 14 July, Cruz was married in civil ceremony with Pedro Knight after a romance of several years. Cruz and Sonora Matancera made their first tour outside of the Americas, visiting [[Europe]] and [[Japan]], where they performed with [[Tito Puente]]. In 1965, Cruz would culminate a vertiginous fifteen years with the Sonora Matancera. Cruz began a solo career and her husband Pedro Knight decided to leave his position at Sonora Matancera to become her representative, arranger and personal director. During this time, Cruz became an American citizen.

In 1966, Cruz was contacted by Tito Puente to perform with his orchestra. Their first collaborative album, {{lang|es|Son con guaguancó}} featured a recording of José Claro Fumero's guaracha "Bemba colorá", which became one of Cruz's signature songs.<ref name=":0" />  Cruz and Puente went on to collaborate on another four albums together. She also recorded albums with other musical directors such as Memo Salamanca, Juan Bruno Tarraza and Lino Frías for [[Tico Records]]. In 1974, [[Fania Records]], the leading [[salsa music|salsa]] record label, acquired Tico and signed Cruz to the imprint Vaya Records, where she remained until 1992.