Pedro Knight, Widower of Celia Cruz, Dies at 85

Cuban-American Pedro Knight, salsero, trumpeter and widower of Celia Cruz died Saturday morning in Arcadia, CA.

Knight grew up in Cuba and played the trumpet with the internationally famous orchestra, Sonora Matancera, participating in the exciting musical climate of pre-Castro Havana. In 1950, Celia Cruz joined the orchestra and, as he would reveal in later interviews, developed 'a crush' on Cruz. At that time, Cruz wasn't interested because she felt that musicians, in general, were known to be notorious womanizers.

In 1960, following the Cuban revolution, Sonora Matancera was performing in Mexico. Rather than return to Cuba, they came to the U.S. Cruz and Knight were married here in 1962. As Cruz became more and more popular, Pedro Knight hung up his trumpet in order to manage his wife's career.

Celia Cruz died from brain cancer in 2003. Since her death, there has been constant public squabbling over her multimillion dollar estate, which was to be inherited by Knight, and whether or not the money was being mismanaged. The estate's resolution was still up in the air last year when Knight was evicted from his Palo Alto home.