Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas (March 11, 1969 – May 10, 2006) was a Colombian-American songwriter, guitarist, arranger, record producer, and singer. She was a successful Latin music star who had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts. She won a 2004 Latin Grammy Awards for "Best Songwriting" and a 2005 Latin Grammy Awards nomination for "Female Pop Vocal Album" for her album El Otro Lado de Mi. She was the opening act for the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Her career spanned ten years, and she recorded five albums, in both English and Spanish. Soraya died of breast cancer on May 10, 2006, age 37. She was first diagnosed in 2000, at the age of 31, after finding a lump while conducting a routine self-examination. She was diagnosed at Stage III and had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction as well as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Before being diagnosed, she had always eaten right, exercised regularly (trying to run at least 3 miles a day), meditated, and received regular health check-ups. In addition she also lost her mother, grandmother and maternal aunt to the disease.
Quote:
"I know there are many questions without answers, and that hope doesn't leave with me, and above all, that my mission does not end with my physical story," were Soraya's last words to her fans and the media before her passing
I remember I had heard her music for the first time just 2 or 3 days before she died. She was truly a beautful human being, inside and out.
