Lágrima Ríos

Lágrima Ríos (Tear Rivers) was the stage name of Lida Melba Benavídez Tabárez (Durazno, September 26th, 1924 - Montevideo, December 25th, 2006), a prominent candombe and tango singer of Afro-Uruguayan descent.[1] Her voice was powerful and she is also known as the "Black Pearl of the Tango" and the "Lady of Candombe".[2] Her rendition of Vieja viola was listed in the book 1001 Songs you must hear before you die (London, 2010).

Biography

Lida Benavídez was born in Durazno, Uruguay,[3] in 1924, to a teenaged mother who was employed as a maid, and a father who was a day labourer.[4] During her childhood, she lived in extreme poverty.

Her breakthrough as a singer came in 1956, when she won a singing competition organised by the newspaper La Tribuna Popular and the CX24 radio station.[5] She adopted the stage name Lágrima Ríos and went on to sing with a number of well-known bands.

She died in Montevideo at the age of 82.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Kacey Link and Kristin Wendland, Tracing Tangueros: Argentine Tango Instrumental Music (Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 15.
  2. ↑ Rubén Carámbula, El candombe (Buenos Aires, 1995), p. 32.
  3. ↑ George Reid Andrews, Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay (Chapel Hill, 2010), p. 97.
  4. ↑ Elvia Duque Castillo, Aportes del Pueblo Afrodescendiente (Bloomington IN, 2013), p. 307.
  5. ↑ Elvia Duque Castillo, Aportes del Pueblo Afrodescendiente (Bloomington IN, 2013), p. 307.
  6. ↑ Il libro ANSA 2007. Notizie, immagini, personaggi (Rome, 2007), p. 385.
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