Aida Cuevas

Traditional Mexican singer Aída Cuevas is affectionately known as "la reina de la ranchera ("the queen of ranchera"). She has been an iconic figure in traditional Mexican music since her teens. Cuevas is an impassioned performer with a resonant, multi-octave instrument that evokes deep sorrow, abundant joy, and profound longing; her vocal range and expressiveness have drawn comparisons to Aretha Franklin's. She is the only female singer in the Mexican regional genre to win both a Grammy and Latin Grammy. Without a label since the 1980s -- she likes it that way -- she has either personally negotiated or self-released her recordings. Her "songbook" albums -- 1983's Aída Cuevas canta lo nuevo de Juan Gabriel, 1987's Aída Cuevas canta a Juan Gabriel, 1988's Lo mejor de José Alfredo Jiménez, 1996's Canciones Inéditas de Maria Grever, and 1998's Lucha Reyes: Remembranzas among them -- played important roles in Mexican popular music. 2004's Suite Mexicana de Agustín Lara is widely considered a classic, as are 2013's Totalmente Juan Gabriel and the 2020/2021 compilations Antología de la Música Ranchera, Vol. I and Vol. 2 -- the latter won a Grammy in 2022. Cuevas has toured the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and recorded more than 40 full-length albums that have sold over 11 million copies. Cuevas was born in Mexico City in 1963. She said in interview that she began singing almost as soon as she could talk. By age 11, she was singing in amateur competitions and was discovered. Her first national exposure was on a live radio show in 1975. She was 12. A year later, she was singing mariachi in Europe, a continent she has since toured many times. She signed to FonoMex and recorded a self-titled album in October; it saw release in 1976, the same year as her sophomore outing, 1977's Con El Mariachi Continental Estrada. Her third album, 1979's Cari Cari, was produced by renowned Mexican composer Armando Manzanero, who wrote, "Te vas Para tu Casa," his first-ever mariachi, for her. In 1982, Juan Gabriel, Mexico's most popular singer/songwriter, sought her out after seeing her on television. He offered her ten unreleased, unpublished songs and asked to produce them for her fourth album. 1983's Aída Cuevas canta lo nuevo de Juan Gabriel established her reputation and has never been out of print (none of her Gabriel collaborations/tribute offerings have). It was followed very quickly with the charting Ahora y Siempre, La Voz de México, produced by Rigoberto Alfaro, with whom she would work into the 1990s. Gabriel re-entered the picture and produced 1985's Exitos in collaboration with the trio La Lucha, and helmed 1987's Aída Cuevas canta a Juan Gabriel, another smash. The songbook formula for recording and touring continued for several years, expanding the reach of Cuevas' reputation with each new entry in her catalog. In 1988 Alfaro produced Lo Mejor de José Alfredo Jiménez and in 1990, the traditional standards collection Canciones De Mi Pueblo Mexicano. In 1991, she and Alfaro switched it up and recorded No Me Olvides Corazón in collaboration with La Banda El Recodo De Crúz Lizárraga. In 1995, she teamed up with her brother Carlos Cuevas to release El Dueto del Siglo, which registered on the Mexican charts. Cuevas was sharing theater and stadium stages in the U.S. Europe, Mexico, and Latin America with performers that included Gabriel, Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Lila Downs, Vicente Fernández, and many others. In 1996 she returned to her songbook recordings with the Chucho Ferrer-produced Canciones Inéditas de María Grever, and the Alfaro-helmed tribute Lucha Reyes: Remembranzas. In 2000, Cuevas and brother Carlos (a fine interpretive singer in his own right) recorded Los Autores del Siglo as a duo. The following year she released the romanticas collection Háblame de Amor, produced by singer Sonia Rivas (her only female producer to date). In 2005, Cuevas released the historic Suite Mexicana de Agustín Lara, a tribute to the great composer that she toured globally. It would be her final album for six years, and has been deemed a classic. Cuevas was far from absent, however. Though she took a break, she also toured, performed on television and radio, and in film. In 2010, the singer returned with De Corazón a Corazón Mariachi Tango. It was the first of her albums to be produced by son Rodrigo Cuevas. He has helmed all of her sessions since and is also her manager. The album won a Latin Grammy for Best Tango album. In 2014 she released the globally acclaimed Totalmente Juan Gabriel in tribute to her mentor and supporter. It registered airplay as far away as Barcelona, Tokyo, and Warsaw, and is among her most beloved albums. She issued two back-to-back Latin Grammy-nominated albums in 2014's Canto a mi Tierra and 2015's Pa' Que Sientas Lo Que Siento -- the latter a collaboration with Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. Gabriel died in August 2016. He and Cuevas had been friends for more than three decades. Her biggest supporter, he took her on tour with him many times and even proposed marriage to her on several occasions; he was also godfather to Rodrigo. In all, Gabriel gifted Cuevas with 64 unpublished, unreleased songs. In 2018 she released Totalment Juan Gabriel, Vol. 2. The Grammy- and Latin Grammy-nominated set also featured a duet with Gabriel recorded years before his death, "Gracias por Todo." The album was an instant best-seller. Cuevas toured the world in support, singing mostly Gabriel's songs. Following the tour, Cuevas re-entered the studio, and recorded and released Antología de la Música Ranchera, Vol. 1. The nine-song set rescued and exalted historic ranchera music, emphasizing in particular songs that made Lucha Reyes an early icon of the genre. Given the pandemic, touring opportunities were few but she, Rodrigo, and her band went back into the studio instead. The popularity of the previous volume preceded the 2021 issue of Antología de la Música Ranchera, Vol. 2. Upon release, the second volume entered the upper rungs of the Mexican, Spanish, Venezuelan, and Peruvian charts. Further, it netted Cuevas her first Grammy after several nominations. She beat Mon Laferte, Natalia Lafourcade, and Christian Nodal to win, taking home the award for Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano).
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