Celia Cruz will be greatly missed around the world, but the Queen of Salsa's spirit lives on with two biographies due out this year. Reed Páginas, the new Spanish-language imprint from Reed Press (owned by Críticas's parent company) will launch this spring with ¡Azucar!: La biografía de Celia Cruz or ¡Azucar!: The Celia Cruz Biography as its lead title. Written by Eduardo Marceles, the 304-page biography will be the first full-length life history of the adored Cuban salsera. Reed Páginas's consulting editor Leylha Ahuile signed up Marceles, who is editor of Vida Hoy, the weekly cultural and entertainment supplement that comes with New York Newsday and is owned by the Spanish-language newspaper Hoy. The book will trace Cruz's life as a successful singer, political exile, and selfless humanitarian. A few lines from one of Cruz's hit songs will introduce each chapter, and focus on the time in Cruz's life evoked by the song. ¡Azucar! relies on hours of unpublished interviews Marceles conducted with Cruz during his 20 years as a journalist. "I've had the wonderful opportunity to interview and meet Celia on many occasions," says Marceles. "Her personality never ceased to amaze me."

Reed Páginas will publish simultaneously in both English and Spanish. The Spanish hardcover will have a 15,000 to 20,000 print run, and the English-language hardcover will release 15,000 copies. The biography also includes photos, as well as interviews from people who knew Cruz. "Celia was lucky enough to have found and worked with a great deal of incredible people," says Marceles. Reed Páginas is planning a major book launch in New York City, a national tour, and English and Spanish advertising and reviews in major literary and consumer magazines.

It will have healthy competition in July 2004, when Rayo, an imprint of HarperCollins, releases the highly anticipated authorized autobiography Celia to coincide with the first anniversary of Cruz's passing. The book is a collaboration between Cruz's husband, Pedro Knight, and Ana Cristina Reymundo, editorial director of Nexos, American Airlines's Latin American travel magazine.

Rayo's release of Celia will spark celebrations and a national book tour. The Celia Cruz Foundation is also planning events around the book's release.

The idea for the book was in the works even before Cruz died. "We're very excited about this project," says René Alegria, editorial director of Rayo. The book is based on 500 hours of taped video and audio interviews Cruz recorded with Reymundo, many of which were conducted in the months before Cruz's death. The book will also include never-before-published personal photos of Cruz at home and entertaining her fans. "The photos are of Celia behind the scenes— 'of Celia being Celia,'" says Alegria. "Celia brought joy to everyone everywhere," he adds. "She was a beautiful woman. Her style was very over-the-top, but she was very approachable and down to earth."