Mendoza, Lydia (1916—)
Mendoza, Lydia (1916—)
Lydia Mendoza, known as the "Meadowlark of the Border," was the first great Mexican American recording star, the first to sing in the vernacular, rather than the cultivated operatic style, and to appeal to a broad section of working-class Mexican Americans. Beginning in the early 1930s, her career as a recording star and performer lasted well into the 1960s, and her fame extended throughout the Southwest, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Her experiences as a performer span the gap of performing in the open marketplace in San Antonio and in tent theaters in rural South Texas during the Depression to having massive parades organized in her honor in northern Mexico. Her discography contains well over three hundred entries for a diverse list of labels.
—Nicolás Kanellos
Further Reading:
Strachwitz, Chris, and James Nicopolus. Lydia Mendoza: A Family Autobiography. Houston, Arte Público Press, 1994.