MIAMI.- Llegendary Cuban artist Juana Bacallao died on the morning of Saturday, February 24 in Havanaat 98 years old.
The popular singer She had been admitted to the Carlos Juan Finlay Military Hospital on Monday, where she was in serious condition, with a reserved prognosis due to a generalized infection, according to the Ciber Cuba portal.
Acquaintances, relatives and the public who loved her so much expected to receive the sad news at any moment.
There was even speculation that he had died on Friday, but his representative, Armando Guerra Sarduy, denied that this was the case. A day later the Ministry of Culture announced the death through a statement that the Cuban Institute of Music published on Facebook.
Before the news was known, comedian Alexis Valds reported on Bacallao’s state of health in a live broadcast on Instagram on Friday.
They are giving her a soft diet because she was very dehydrated and malnourished, said Valds, who contacted the singer’s relatives.
According to Ciber Cuba, an official from the Culture sector told CubaNet that the artist was in a situation of lack of protection: She was not eating or hydrating well and she did not have the necessary resources at home for the ailments of her advanced age, the official said. , who did not want to be identified.
Born on May 26, 1925 in Havana, Neris Amelia Martínez Salazar became known as Juana Ballacao.
Also known as Juana La Cubana, she began her artistic career as a teenager without having studied music. But she carried the gifts of singing and dancing in her veins like the innate artist that she was. And that’s how she expressed it in the interviews.
Throughout a successful professional career, he left his mark on the emblematic Tropicana until it became a cone of Cuban culture.
Coming from a humble and orphan family from a very early age, her comedic vision took her to various facets, from the cabar to television and the theater.
Although he had no musical training, he learned to play the piano and the tumbadora. But while she worked as a kind of domestic employee, her talent caught the attention of the composer, musician and orchestra director Obdulio Morales, reported Prensa Latina.
It was then that Morales orchestrated his debut at the Mart Theater, with the interpretation of the guaracha I am Juana Bacallao. From there came her artistic name with which she transcended on the outskirts of the island as Juana La Cubana.
Awarded the National Humor Award in 2020, she was much loved in Mexico, Venezuela, the United States and Canada, a country where she was awarded a Gold Record.
She was also recognized in the Dominican Republic, where she performed for several years. Her songs were heard on many stations in Europe and for a long period they hummed her nickname, especially among Italians.
Considered the Show Woman of Cuba, a title more than deserved after decades in front of spectators, she was applauded for her way of acting, the lyrics of the songs she performed and her extravagant costumes.
Many musicians made the contagious Juana, the Cuban melody their own, including the singer Selena Quintanilla.
In addition to the Gold Record that was awarded to him in Canada, he received multiple recognitions, such as the Distinction for National Culture and the Alejo Carpentier medal.
