Mercedes Sosa, 'Voice of Latin America,' Dies at 74

Posted on Oct 4th 2009 11:00AM by Liz Colville
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Mercedes Sosa, the Latin Grammy-winning Argentine folk singer known as the "voice of Latin America," has died from complications of liver problems at a hospital in Argentina, AP reports. She was 74. Sosa, of Indian and French ancestry, was at the helm of the nueva canción ("new song") movement, called nueva cancionero in Argentina, which brought politically charged folk music to a wide audience during the turbulent, junta-ruled '60s and '70s.

Sosa was born on July 9, 1935 to a working-class family in the northwest province of Tucumán. She taught folk dancing from a young age and at 15, entered a radio content under the name "Gladys Osorio." She won, which secured her a contract with the station and launched her career as a professional singer. She released her first album, 'Canciones con Fundamento,' in 1965, and embarked on a tour of the U.S. and Europe in 1967.

Alongside other singers including her first husband Manuel Óscar Matus, Chile's Violeta Parra and Victor Jara, Argentina's Victor Heredia and Uruguay's Alfredo Zitarrosa, Sosa brought her leftist political beliefs into music that celebrated past folk traditions. But the singers were under close government watch. Following the CIA-sponsored coup that ousted Chilean President Salvador Allende in 1973, soldiers tortured and killed Victor Jara.

Sosa herself received death threats as her work, including 1972's 'Hasta la Victoria' ('Till Victory), took on an increasingly sociopolitical bent and was banned from television and radio. In 1976, Jorge Videla's military government came to power in Argentina. While performing for an audience of students in La Plata in 1979, Sosa and 200 attendees were detained. Upon her release, Sosa decided to flee South America. She told AP in a 2007 interview, "I knew I had to leave. I was being threatened by the Triple A (a right-wing death squad that terrorized suspected dissidents during the 1976-83 military junta). The people from the navy, the secret services were following me."

She returned to great fanfare in 1982. The resulting performances yielded the best-selling live album 'Mercedes Sosa En Argentina,' followed by the self-titled 'Mercedes Sosa' in 1983. She was prolific even in the last years of her life, maintaining her popularity by singing about resonant issues like peace, poverty and love. She won a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album at the first annual awards in 2000 for 'Misa Criolla,' and won again for 'Acusticó' in 2003 and 'Corazón Libre' in 2006.

Sosa recorded more than 70 albums in her lifetime, the last being the double album 'Cantora 1' and 'Cantora 2,' which features guest spots from contemporary Latin artists including Shakira, Calle 13 and Joaquín Sabina. 'Cantora 1' is nominated for a 2009 Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album.

Watch a video of Sosa performing Atahualpa Yupanqui's "Duerme Negrito."