The Queen of Salsa will soon be featured in U.S. currency. Cuban American icon Celia Cruz will appear on new coins in 2024, according to the U.S. Mint.
The music legend, who was one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, will be honored along with four other women by appearing on a quarter as part of The American Women Quarters Program.
The program, which began in 2022 and will run until 2025, recognizes and honors the achievements and contributions of American women. Cruz will be the first Afro-Latina singer to be featured as part of the program.
Cruz was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1925. Her career spanned decades; she recorded 80 albums, earned 23 Gold Records, won multiple Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by the president, according to the Smithsonian.
Cruz died in 2003 at the age of 77 in New Jersey. The Afro Caribbean legend was posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives and have made a significant impact on our Nation in their own unique way,” U.S. Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a statement. “By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins which are like small works of art in your pocket.”
“The women pioneered change during their lifetimes, not yielding to the status quo imparted during their lives. By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins which are like small works of art in your pocket.”
Other honorees for 2024 include Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress, Zitkala-a, a voting rights activist from the Yankton Sioux Nation, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon and suffragist, and Pauli Murray, a civil rights activist and attorney.
The designs for the 2024 American Women Quarters are expected to be released in mid-2023.