Celia Cruz, the late and great Queen of Salsa and the "Guarachera of Cuba," will be the first Latina to be immortalized in the Walk of Legends by the famous Apollo Theater this weekend.

Cruz's life and legacy will be paid tribute to as part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations of the Apollo. The concert is titled Tribute to the Guarachera de Cuba: The Queen Celia Cruz. Cruz will join African-American artists who have been honored by the Apollo in the past like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Etta James, who have all received recognition, El Universal reports.

The Apollo's honor also marks the 50th Anniversary of Cruz's debut performance at the Apollo Theater. Cruz has earned 23 gold albums.

Cruz's music, Guaracha, is a genre of popular Cuban music with rapid tempo and with lyrics. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theaters and urban dance salons.

Omer Camus, the executor of Cruz's estate, seemed surprised, and yet honored for Cruz's recognition.

"They still honor people after death," Camus said. "It is one of the most important awards given since she died. Apollo is a major theater and in the center of the African-American community."

Cruz died in 2003 at the age of 77.

The Apollo Theater opened in 1913, and the audience was mainly white. By 1918, the cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance period saw the increase of African-American artists, singers, performers, songwriters, and writers in the area.

Then on Jan. 26,1934, the Apollo welcomed an African-American audience. By 1983, the Apollo was declared a historic monument.

Camus stated that the Apollo's honoring of Cruz keeps the legacy of Latin culture alive, and more so in New York City. Elia Knight, daughter of deceased musician Pedro Knight, Cruz's husband, accepted the recognition made by the Apollo. A scholarship will also be awarded to a student at the music school in the Celia Cruz Bronx Borough.

Cruz's concert will also be organized by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute for the Apollo.

Cruz made "Azucar!" her war cry on stage.

Related