Chavela Vargas, Biography Of A Mexican Icon

Chavela Vargas is one of those women who happen once a century. He was the great icon of Mexican music and a figure who went through life arousing the admiration of some and the surprise of others. His voice and the feeling he put into each of his performances are a valuable legacy for the history of music.

One of the curious aspects of Chavela Vargas, the Mexican icon, is that she was neither called Chavela nor was she born in Mexico. Her real name was María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano and she was born in a small town called San Joaquín de Flores, in the province of Heredia (Costa Rica). She is credited with the famous phrase ” Mexicans are born where we want .”

He began his musical career relatively late, at the age of 30. From the beginning she enchanted her with her raspy voice , simulating a drunken man, and the musical minimalism that led her to sing accompanied only by a guitar.

Chavela Vargas and heartbreak in her childhood

Chavela Vargas was born on April 17, 1919, in Costa Rica. She grew up a sad girl. His family was excessively religious and full of prejudices. She was not like other girls. There was something wrong with her appearance and that was why her parents were ashamed of her. When a visitor came, they asked him to hide.

From the age of 8 he began to sing and would never stop doing it. Chavela did not play with dolls. She was withdrawn and lonely. Her parents divorced when she was still very young. None of them wanted to take care of the strange girl who sang from the soul. That is why he went to live with some of his uncles and shortly after he fell ill with polio.

At 17, fed up with heartbreak , she left for Mexico to find a new life. She started singing in nightclubs, dressed in heels and perfectly made up. Later he would say that he felt ” like a transvestite ” when he did it.

So very soon she decided to cut her hair, put on pants, which were not used by women at that time, and put on a poncho to sing. And of course, a revolver was also installed on his belt, so that the message he wanted to convey would not be doubted .

An imprint in Mexican music

José Alfredo Jiménez, the great Mexican composer and performer, was fascinated by his stage presence. They became friends and “partying companions.” He toured many times with him, and it was probably then that he became very fond of alcohol. With him he performed in clubs and cabarets, but never in the big theaters.

Around those times he met the great painter Frida Kahlo, with whom, apparently, he had a romantic relationship. He was not her only lover. His romantic affairs were not very well known, because almost all of them took place in the middle of secrecy.

She was devastated by the death of José Alfredo Jiménez and this plunged her into her addiction to alcohol. He came to retire completely from the stage and live on the charity of his friends and acquaintances. Two friends of hers helped her out of that pit and then she was hired to go to what would be another of the countries she would love: Spain.

The end of a life, the beginning of a legend

In Spain, a new stage of his life began, successful and happy. Its guardian angel and promoter was the famous filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. He has stated that since a long time before he cried with the songs of Chavela Vargas. When he met her personally, they became close friends. Various themes by Vargas were used in his films.

Spain gave a new projection to his career and life. Chavela Vargas was a great friend of her friends and in Spain she built eternal friendships. Joaquín Sabina, for example, or Almodóvar himself and Miguel Bosé. From Mexico he already brought great friends, like Gabriel García Márquez, with whom he dined once a year, wherever they were.

At age 80, Chavela jumped from a parachute. At 90, he was still selling out box office during his presentations. At 94, he found death, in his beloved Mexico, after a tortuous trip to Spain in which he had practically said goodbye. He died on a Sunday, as she wanted. He had said so, because he did not want to ” ruin anyone’s weekend .”