Albita

Albita Rodríguez, born on June 6, 1962, in Havana, Cuba, was exposed to Cuban country music from a young age due to her parents, Martín Rodríguez and Minerva Herrera, being well-known Cuban folk music singers. She began her professional career as a teenager and by the late 1980s, she had established herself as a national interpreter of Cuban folk music, or Música Guajira. Her debut album, “Habrá Música Guajira,” was released in 1988.

In 1990, Albita relocated to Colombia for work commitments and subsequently defected to the United States on April 15, 1993, settling in Miami, Florida. Initially, she was not widely known in the U.S. music scene. However, she gained recognition from public figures such as Gianni Versace, Quincy Jones, Madonna, and Sylvester Stallone. In 1994, Emilio Estefan’s Crescent Moon label signed her, leading to the release of her U.S. single “Qué Manera de Quererte” and the 1995 album “No Se Parece a Nada.

Albita’s career in the U.S. includes multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations and wins. She has expanded her reach through extensive international tours across Australia, Europe, Malaysia, Africa, and Latin America. She has shared stages with artists such as Celia Cruz, Phil Collins, Tony Bennett, and Juan Luis Guerra. Her music has been featured in film soundtracks, and she has performed at four Presidential functions, including two inaugurations. In 2004, she established her own label, Angel’s Dawn Records, and released “Albita Llegó,” which earned her two Grammys for Best Contemporary Tropical Album. In 2005, she took on a major role in the Broadway musical “The Mambo Kings.” More recently, in May 2016, she performed in the musical “Carmen la Cubana” in Paris and London, and in October 2019, she held two free concerts in Hialeah and Miami Beach to celebrate National Hispanic Pride month.