Soraya (6)

Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas, better known as Soraya was a Colombian-American singer-songwriter, producer and breast cancer activist. During her ten years spanning career she was known for releasing most of her albums simultaneously in English and Spanish, combining Colombian rhythms with genres such as pop, rock and folk. The artist was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, on March 11th 1969 after her parents immigrated from Colombia to the United States. During her part-time job as a flight attendant for American Airlines, she was discovered by a record executive of PolyGram in 1994 to whom she gave a cassette tape with three demo songs she recorded. In May 2000, shortly after releasing her third album Cuerpo Y Alma / I'm Yours, the singer performed a breast self-examination, after which she was diagnosed with breast cancer in a progressed stage. During the following years Soraya dedicated herself to raise breast cancer awareness through activities and talks supported by foundations such as Susan G. Komen, while her disease being treated. “No one else / por ser quien soy”, songs produced for this purpose, thematising her own experiences with the disease, where published in various formats and countries. In May 2003, the self-titled fourth album Soraya was released as her musical comeback for which she won the 2004 Latin Grammy Award, in the category Best Album-Songwriter. Soraya died on May 10, 2006 in Miami, Florida at age 37 following the long struggle with her disease.