Chabela Vargas

Mexican singer of Costa Rican origin. Her particular way of getting involved in the lyrics of ranchera songs and making them his own and of challenging the public from the stage earned him the admiration of his followers. Songs like Macorina, La llorona, La china and Volver, volver were among the most appreciated interpretations of his extensive repertoire.

¿Who was Chabela Vargas?

María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano, known as Chavela Vargas, was born in San José de Flores, Heredia, Costa Rica, on April 17, 1919. She died in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, on August 5, 2012.

To speak of Chavela Vargas is to refer to one of the most influential voices of Latin American song. She was born in Costa Rica but became a Mexican citizen. Although her style always leaned towards the bolero and the ranchera (a typical Mexican genre, a country she adopted and in which she ended her days), "la Chamana" (a nickname she carried as well as "La Vargas") internationalized her voice and Your message. But from the “festive ranchera” he eliminated all vestiges of joy, dispensed with the figure of the mariachi and began to sing “from his bowels”. This is how musical jewels such as “La llorona”, “Luz de luna” and “Paloma negra”, among many others, are born.

With a defiant and rebellious attitude, she lived with Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera, was a friend of Juan Rulfo and a devoted lover of tequila.

7 Quotes to remember

"I will die on a Monday, the most boring day, but I don't want crosses or tears. I want Vargas to be left to rest." "When I sing, those who listen feel and cry because they realize that they are still capable of feeling, despite the ills of the world." "I have done everything knowingly and I do not regret anything. Neither the good nor the bad, nor the happy moments nor the sadness. In the end, my soul is full of peace and tranquility." "I always knew it. There is no one who can put up with the freedom of others; no one likes to live with a free person. If you are free, that is the price you have to pay: loneliness." "Love without measure, without limit, without a complex, without permission, without courage, without advice, without a doubt, without a price, without a cure, without anything. Do not be afraid to love, you will shed tears with or without love." "You have to fill the planet with violins and guitars and not with submachine guns." "Whatever you want from me, I'll give it to you, but I'll never give you anything back. That's how it works."

Listen to Chavela Vargas on Spotify