Chavela Vargas

Costa Rica-born Mexican singer, especially known for her rendition of Mexican rancheras, but also recognized for her contribution to other genres of popular Latin American music. She was an influential interpreter in the Americas and Europe, muse to figures such as Pedro Almodóvar, hailed for her haunting performances, and called "la voz áspera de la ternura", the rough voice of tenderness. The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, presented her with a Latin GRAMMY Statuette in 2007 after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of that organization.

At age 81, she publicly came out as lesbian in her autobiography titled And If You Want to Know about My Past. But it wasn't really a surprise to her fans. For years Vargas refused to change the genders in her songs. In "Paloma Negra" ("Black Dove"), Vargas accuses a woman of partying all night long and breaking her heart.

Chavela Vargas had been hospitalized for several weeks as a result of respiratory problems before she died in Cuernavaca, Mexico on 5 August 2012, aged 93.