Early Life
De la Cruz was born on February 13, 1907, in Bustos,Bulacan. Even as a young child, de la Cruz would be hired to sing at town fiestas, and at intermissions during cockfights and boxing matches. Her formal schooling ended at the third grade.
In 1914, when de la Cruz was seven, she was hired by the owner of a Manila film theater to sing to the audiences in between movie screenings. Such performances were typical in Manila theaters during that period, and from those routines would emerge a distinct genre eventually known as bodabil. De la Cruz learned her songs through listening to phonograph records, and mastered the English language with the help of her brother.
Read more about this topic: Katy De La Cruz
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