Carmita Jiménez (August 3, 1939 – August 10, 2003) was a Puerto Rican singer who was considered a

diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

in Puerto Rico. She was born in

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

. Carmita Jiménez started her singing career at the young age of six, on the radio show named ''El Abuelito Welch'' (''Grandpa Welch'') with another legendary Puerto Rican show business legend, José Miguel Agrelot. This show, as its name suggested, was sponsored by the

Welch's Welch Foods Inc., commonly known as Welch's, is an American company, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, Concord, Massachusetts. It has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association, a Agricultural cooperative, co-op of grape ...

grape juice brand. At 15, Jimenez performed the ''Habanera'' from

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

''Carmen''. Soon after, she joined popular music groups like the Moncho Usera orchestra, and then she released her first album, which contained the hit ''Tierra Rica'' (''Rich Earth''). During the 1960s, Jimenez became a popular fixture on Puerto Rico's television and enjoyed great renown. She decided then that it was time to internationalize her career and moved to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in 1961, to promote herself in South America. Her stay in Peru, which lasted until 1968, made her very popular among the citizens of that country too. There she gave birth to her only daughter, María Nahíma, who as her mother, began singing professionally since a child. Carmita kept on releasing albums and scoring more hits. After she returned to Puerto Rico in 1968, she landed her own section on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the flagship and namesake station of Guaynabo-based WAPA Media Group. WAPA-TV maintains studio facilities on Luis Vigoreaux Avenue ...

's popular lunch-time show ''El Show Del Mediodia''. During the 1970s, Carmita became a part of the

Disco Music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

movement in her country, and had the number one hit ''La Generacion De Hoy'' (''Today's Generation''), produced by

Alfred D. Herger Alfred Domingo Herger (born November 4, 1942) is a Puerto Rican television show host and a psychologist. He has been labeled ''the Ed Sullivan of Puerto Rico'' in local media, due to his strong influence on Puerto Rican popular culture and his su ...

, which was followed by ''La Vida En Rosa'' (''Life In Pink''), a song which was later a hit in English too,

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

performing the English version. Jimenez began bringing down her yearly number of appearances since 1985, becoming a more private person. In September 1990 she debuted as a stage actress in the San Juan premiere production of Rodolfo Santana's "Baño de Damas", with an all-star cast that included Gladys Rodriguez, Giselle Blondet, Marisol Calero, and Johanna Rosaly. In February 1991 she returned to the stage as Sister Mary Hubert (Sor María José) in the San Juan premiere production of Dan Goggins' musical comedy "Sor-Presas" (Nunsense). Both productions played at the historic Tapia Theater in Old San Juan. In 1994, she participated in a concert named ''Algo Mas Que Una Cantante'' (''More Than Just a Singer'') at

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

's Centro de Bellas Artes, a concert which reunited many international singing super-stars. As it turned out, there was a reason for her winding down the number of public appearances each year: In 2002, she announced during an interview with

Vea ''Vea'' was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican celebrity gossip magazine that was published weekly from 1969 to 2009. It was founded by Enrique Pizzi Galindo and Roberto García. As a periodical that reported on the lives and activities of many of the ...

that she had been diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 1985. The fact is that the cancer she had for almost 20 years had spread into

bone metastasis Bone metastasis, or osseous metastatic disease, is a category of cancer metastases that result from primary tumor invasions into bones. Bone-originating primary tumors such as osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and Ewing sarcoma are rare; the most commo ...

and she battled it all that time. She tried several cures, including a 4 month-visit to a private clinic in Switzerland with her daughter, singer and lyricist Maria Nahima. Carmita died at her home in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a Caguas barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Cordillera Central (Puer ...

after succumbing to

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. She was buried at Cementerio Borinquen Memorial Park I in Caguas, Puerto Rico. One of the rooms at the (a performing arts center in Caguas which underwent major renovations after

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

) is named after Carmita Jiménez.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Carmita 1939 births 2003 deaths Deaths from breast cancer in Puerto Rico People from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican women singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers Puerto Rican television personalities

See also

References