Chavela Vargas

Isabel Vargas Lizano , better known as Chavela Vargas, was a Costa Ricanborn Mexican singer. She was especially known for her rendition of Mexican rancheras, but she is also recognized for her contribution to other genres of popular Latin American music. She has been an influential interpreter in the Americas and Europe, muse to figures such as Pedro Almodvar, hailed for her haunting performances, and called la voz spera de la ternura, the rough voice of tenderness. The Latin Academy of Recording Arts amp Sciences, presented her with a Latin GRAMMY Statuette in 2007 after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of that organization.

Although the name Chavela Vargas is associated with Mexico and its culture, she was born in Costa Rica, in San Joaqun de Flores, as Isabel Vargas Lizano, daughter of Francisco Vargas and Herminia Lizano. She was baptized onJuly 1919 with the forenames Mara Isabel Anita Carmen de Jess. She had a difficult childhood her parents divorced and left her under the care of an uncle, and she contracted poliomyelitis. She went by Chavela, which is a pet name for Isabel. At age 14, she abandoned her native country due to lack of opportunities for a musical career, seeking refuge in Mexico, where an entertainment industry was burgeoning. There she resided for almost eight decades and obtained Mexican nationality.

Source: Wikipedia