Chayito Valdez is a Mexican-born American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer and actress associated with the folk music of Mexico.

Career

Valdez started her music career at an early age participating in amateur competitions with songs such as "La Cigarra","Historia de un amor","La Bikina","Leña de Pirul". Her godmother was Amalia Mendoza

Amalia Mendoza

Amalia Mendoza was one of Mexico's most famous ranchera singers whose career lasted over 40 years. Distinguished for her special "husky" voice, Mendoza was one of the "Tres Señoras", along with Lola Beltrán and Lucha Villa.She was also known by the nickname of La Tariácuri...

, a successful singer known as "La Tariácuri", and in the early 1970s she recorded four songs the Sinaloan city of Los Mochis

Los Mochis

Los Mochis is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 256,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population....

: "Besos y Copas", "Una Noche me Embriagué", "Una Sombra" and "Amor que Muere", which earned her a reputation as a Mexican folk singer. She won the fifth Festival de la Canción Ranchera with the song "No me pregunten por él".

Valdez moved to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 in 1982 and became a US citizen. On September 17, 1985, she suffered an automobile accident that left her in a wheelchair, but after a long recovery began making public appearances again. In June 2003 she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma

Coma

In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...

 for 50 days. Her last show was in Nogales

Nogales, Sonora

Heroica Nogales , more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and its surrounding municipality on the northern border of the Mexican State of Sonora. The municipality covers an area of 1,675 km², and borders to the north the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States, across the U.S.-Mexico border...

 (a city in the Mexican state of Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

). She is in a persistent vegetative state

Persistent vegetative state

A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...

 in a hospital in Chula Vista, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

During her 30-year career, Valdez contributed over 300 hits and 1500 recorded songs to the Mexican musical heritage. Her musical legacy includes Corridos de Caballos (traditional Mexican ballads) such as:

• "Caballo Prieto Afamado"
• "Caballo Prieto Azabache"
• "El alazán y el Rocío"
• "El Cantador"
• "Caballo Tequila"
• "Caballo Alazán Lucero"
• "Los Dos Alazanes"

Traditional songs of hers includes:

• "San Juan del Río"
• "Mi Soldadita"
• "La Gallera"
• "Lindo Michoacán"
• "El Sinaloense"
• "Sonora Querida"
• "Acuarela Potosina"
• "Pelea de Gallos

Romantic boleros include such as "Comprendeme", "Mía Nomás", "Sentencia", "Besos Callejeros", "No Vuelvas", "Ojazos Negros."

Television

Valdez appeared in Mexican television programs such as:

• Siempre en Domingo
• Noches Tapatías
• El Estudio de Lola
• Hoy mismo
• Para gente Grande
• Aun hay más
• Nuestra Gente

Films

• Hijos de tigre (1980)
• El charro del misterio (1980)
• Pasión por el peligro (1979)
• La hija del contrabando (1977)
• Tierra de Valientes (1987)
• Caballo Prieto Afamado (1977)
• En el camino Andamos
• Los 4 jinetes del apocalipsis
• Pistoleros famosos II
• El ratero de la vecindad
• Pánico en la Frontera
• Zacazonapan
  Zacazonapan
  Zacazonapan is a village and municipality near Mexico City. The name comes from Náhuatl and roughly translates to "in water of the meadows"-The village:...
  
  (1976)
• De la Gloria al Infierno
• Hasta el último trago... corazón (documentary 2005)

External links

• Periódico Región Biography