Mercedes Sosa (born 9 July 1935, died 3 October 2009 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentinean singer inmensely popular throughout Latin America. With her roots in argentinean folk music, she became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva trova (new song). Sosa is greatly admired for the depth and beauty of her contralto voice. She is nicknamed "La Negra" by her fans for her long, jet-black hair.Actually she is nicknamed "La Negra" because that's the way in Argentina we called affectously to dark skinned and hair people, is something very common to call people that way in the most affectous way, and Mercedes Sosa was loved and known for everybody in Argentina, and so her position against the so called "Fact Goverment" that ruled the country and disappeared or murdered anybody suspected of being against the goverment ideas. ...show more

Mercedes Sosa (born 9 July 1935, died 3 October 2009 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentinean singer inmensely popular throughout Latin America. With her roots in argentinean folk music, she became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva trova (new song). Sosa is greatly admired for the depth and beauty of her contralto voice. She is nicknamed "La Negra" by her fans for her long, jet-black hair.Actually she is nicknamed "La Negra" because that's the way in Argentina we called affectously to dark skinned and hair people, is something very common to call people that way in the most affectous way, and Mercedes Sosa was loved and known for everybody in Argentina, and so her position against the so called "Fact Goverment" that ruled the country and disappeared or murdered anybody suspected of being against the goverment ideas.

Sosa was born in Tucumán, a northwestern province of Argentina, of mestizo descent from French and Amerindian (Quechuan) ancestry. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months. Sosa and her first husband Manuel Oscar Matus were key players in the mid-60s nueva canción movement (which was called nuevo cancionero in Argentina). Her first record was Canciones con Fundamento (Songs with Fundament), a collection of Argentinean folk songs.

In 1967, Sosa toured with great success the United States and Europe. In subsequent years, she performed and recorded extensively, broadening her repertoire to include material from throughout Latin America. In the early 1970s, Sosa released two concept albums in collaboration with composer Ariel Ramírez and lyricist Félix Luna: Cantata Sudamericana (South American Cantata) and Mujeres Argentinas (Argentinean Women). She also recorded a tribute to Chilean poet Violeta Parra. ...show less