Mercedes Sosa (born 9 July 1935) is an Argentine singer immensely popular throughout Latin America. With her roots in Argentinian folk music, she became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. Sosa is greatly admired for the depth and beauty of her contralto voice. She is nicknamed "La Negra" by her fans for her long, jet-black hair.
Sosa was born in Tucumán, a northwestern privince of Argentina, of mestizo descent from French and Amerindian (Quechuan) ancestry. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months.
Sosa and her first husband Manuel Oscar Matus were key players in the mid-60s nueva canción movement (which was called nuevo cancionero in Argentina). Her first record was Canciones con Fundamento, a collection of Argentine folk songs.
In 1967, Sosa toured with great success the United States and Europe. In subsequent years, she performed and recorded extensively, broadening her repertoire to include material from throughout Latin America.
In the early 1970s, Sosa released two concept albums in collaboration with composer Ariel Ramírez and lyricist Félix Luna: Cantata Sudamericana and Mujeres Argentinas (Argentine Women). She also recorded a tribute to Chilean poet Violeta Parra.
After the military junta of Jorge Videla came to power, the atmosphere in Argentina grew increasingly oppressive. At a concert in La Plata in 1979, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage, and the attending crowd was arrested. Banned in her own country, she moved to Paris and then to Madrid.
Sosa returned to Argentina in 1982, several months before the military regime collapsed as a result of the Falklands War, and gave a series of concerts at the Opera theater in Buenos Aires, where she invited many of her younger colleagues to share the stage. A double album of recordings from these performances became an instant best seller.
In the following years, Sosa continued to tour both in Argentina and abroad, performing in such venues as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Mogador in París.
Sosa's repertoire continued to broaden, and she made recordings in various styles. She collaborated frequently with Argentine musicians such as León Gieco, Charly García, Antonio Tarragó Ros, Rodolfo Mederos and Fito Páez, and other Latin American artists such as Milton Nascimento and Silvio Rodríguez.
Sosa participated in a 2001 production of the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez.
los angeles estan de fiesta y Dios derramando bendición para tu encuentro. Nosotros llorando tu partida pero agradezco tu talento que es la mejor medicina para muchos un gran tesoro.
To all the bands/singers using Mercedes sites to advertise their music you should be ashamed - MERCEDES SOSA PASSED AWAY recently - have you no shame and where the hell is the moderator of this site anyway.
Mercedes My Space should be used respectfully for Mercedes - bless her always.
I believe Mercede's Myspace is being hacked and being used by senseless unthinking people. Mercedes passed away approx 2 weeks ago - where the the messages of sadness at this terrible loss for the wonderful woman, singer, human being and international treasure. I am devastated at Mercedes passing of kidney,heart,liver failure - isn't anybody else.
RIP dear Mercedes......the world is not the same without you.
Maestra, hermana, siempre entre nosotros Del "Acto contra el golpe de estado de Honduras" celebrado en el Teatro Alameda de Sevilla, esta versión de Barco a la vista de Rafael Alberti "... y la sangre parece que intenta ser bahía..." ese día fue también un sentido homenaje a la inmensa Mercedes Sosa por parte de todos los que estuvimos presentes
Hasta siempre negrita!!!!! gracias por todo, por las canciones, por la companhia, por la musica, la emocion, las luchas, las penas y por sobre todo....gracias a la vida!!!!
Its been a while and we thought it was about time we updated you on what we've been up to. Our debut EP Little World is now available at our gigs and will soon be available from our myspace and facebook pages, you will also be able to download it from itunes, but we don't have a release date for this as yet.
To celebrate the fact that we have now reached 25,000 plays on myspace, we are giving you a free MP3 of Rockabye Baby. All you have to do is send your email address to queen.elvis@yahoo.ie and we will send it to you.
We have spent the last year rehearsing with a full band and are now ready to bring it on the road. You can get a look at us when we appear on Balcony TV this week with the full line up. We are currently taking bookings for gigs/concerts/festivals and can be contacted on the email above, or through our myspace and facebook pages.
Thankyou for your continued support in what has been a great year for us!
Online Now!
