Malaga, Spain –
Camila Cabello credits her success as an artist and as a human being to the strong women in her life. So it was only natural that she was there to celebrate her grandmother’s milestone publication of her novel.
The Spanish-language book Losboleros que hevivo (“The Bolero I’ve Lived”) was a decades-long dream project for Cabello’s grandmother, Mercedes Rodriguez.
The “Havana” singer traveled to Malaga, Spain last week to help celebrate and promote Rodriguez’s book. This book tells the story of a woman who separated from her husband after many years of marriage, and her 329-page story interweaves her efforts to reunite with her daughter and granddaughter in the United States. , reflecting events in the life of the Cabello family.
“I ended up finishing it very quickly in the end,” Rodriguez said, “because this is the story of my life and I still have good memories of it.”
As the 75-year-old Rodriguez talked about the novel, Cabello held her hand. “My family is a very big part of who I am, who I am as an artist, and a very big part of my music,” Cabello said.
Music is like a character in an entire novel. All chapters are named after Bolero. Bolero is a musical genre with romantic lyrics that originated in Cuba and became very popular throughout Latin America in the first half of the 20th century. For Rodriguez, music is essential.
Rodriguez said of his granddaughter’s success, “It’s in her blood. I have a picture of her when she was two years old with a microphone in her hand and the radio on.
“For example, when I hear her sing at a concert, it takes my breath away. It’s so exciting. I can’t explain it,” she said. Or listening to her records, it’s something I’ve never felt in my life.”
Rodriguez’s favorite Cabello song, “Never Be the Same,” evokes intense emotions. “I make a fool of myself so I can’t hear. I start crying right away,” she said.
Other family favorites include music from their native Cuba, Latin pop stars such as Alejandro Sanz and Luis Miguel, and superstars favored by Cabello’s grandmother, Ed Sheeran.
Cabello feels a special bond with the women in his family, who go back to his grandmother’s grandmother, whom Rodriguez called Isabelita.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that I had such a strong woman in my family, I wouldn’t be where I am today. All women have strong personalities and have done things their own way,” she said. . Her great-great-grandmother was “ahead of her time about sexuality and relationships.” (Cabello says it’s a theme her grandmother explores in “Los boleros que he viido.”)
“My mother was always the same,” Cabello said, referring to Rodriguez.
