Chavela Vargas

The best and longest preserved of the Mexican cancion ranchera singers, Chavela Vargas began singing rather late in life -- past the age of 30 -- but continued well into old age, charming audiences until she was well into her seventies. Born in Costa Rica in 1919, she first sang on a professional level in the early '50s, and toured with the legendary José Alfredo Jiménez. Her first recordings appeared in 1961, and she became quite popular during the 1960s and '70s, both in her native land as well as across the ocean in Spain and Europe. Although she retired in 1979, a victim o...