And while "Not that there's anything wrong with that", I understand she was a lesbian as well. This woman was anything by "typical" and that was part of her allure.

No, MM you have been misinformed about her being a lesbian. Celia celebrated her 41st wedding anniversary this July 14th.

Did you know that he places homosexuals believed to have HIV in concentration camps in Cuba?

Booklady, if Célia Cruz was married, I wonder why the articles I've read about her death never mention her husband.

By 1960, Celia Cruz left Cuba permanently to pursue a career in the States. She became a permanent citizen by 1961 with a contract to perform in the Hollywood Palladium. It was during this time that she fell in love with the tall, dark and dashingly handsome first trumpet of the orchestra. His was the first friendly face she grew to search for. He was attentive, caring about her feeling toward the arrangements, the timing and the music. And for Celia, he was truly her knight in shining armor. Celia Cruz and Pedro Knight married in 1962. By 1965, he decided to step back from his own career to manage the wife he adored.

Adapting to Exile
Although the singer would come to love the United States, Cruz could never forget her homeland. She continues to remember it in song, but she cannot return to Cuba. Castro, angered by the singer's defection, would not even allow her to visit the country when her mother was sick, or when her father died. If Celia Cruz continues to be unhappy about her expatriation, she seems to have accepted the situation, and Hispanics have certainly shown their appreciation of her work in the United States. "If I die now," the singer stated in the New York Times in 1985, "I want to be buried here."

As the New York Times remembered, Cruz's "early years in the United States were less than memorable; young Latinos were more interested in rock-and-roll than in music from the old country." Cruz had to work very hard to earn her fame in the United States. One good thing, however, did occur during those early years in America. On July 14, 1962, Cruz married Pedro Knight , the first trumpeter of La Sonora Matancera; she had known him for over 14 years. Knight has served as Cruz's protector, manager, and musical director ever since. He has helped her make important decisions and has provided enthusiastic support; he gave her the golden "Salsa" engraved earrings she still wears. In 1987, Louis Ramirez, an arranger of songs for Cruz, explained Knight's role in Cruz's professional life in the New York Times. "When discord arises on how best to sing or play a part, everyone turns to Pedro. Pedro presides quietly in a corner, with his arms crossed. After he hears us argue back and forth, he says "si' or "no.'"

The singer's husband, Pedro Knight, whom she lovingly called ''my little cottonhead,'' was seen leaving the funeral home around 4 p.m. en route to Miami to attend the scheduled services here.