Mercedes Sosa, an Argentine-born folk singer, is widely regarded as Argentina’s most well-known and successful musician. She is well-known all over the world, having performed in over thirty countries. Mercedes Sosa released more than 40 albums between 1959 and 2005. Her beautiful contralto voice is renowned, as are her moving lyrics, which frequently deal with social issues. Mercedes Sosa is a musician who also happens to be an activist.
Haydée Mercedes Sosa was born on July 9, 1935, in the Argentine province of Tucumán. Mercedes Sosa grew up immersed in folk culture, thanks to her humble beginnings and mestizo ancestry. She grew up with a love and appreciation for folk music and folk dances, or danzas folclóricas. Mercedes Sosa won a singing competition in her home province of Tucumán when she was 15 years old. Mercedes Sosa was given a two-month performance contract with a local radio station in exchange for her victory, and her meteoric career was launched.
By her mid-twenties, Mercedes Sosa had established herself as a prominent folclorista, or folk music performer, and was a member of the El Nuevo Cancionero movement. This movement, which began in the 1960s in the province of Mendoza, called for a return to the roots of folk music and everyday Argentine life, rather than popular and fleeting trends in music. Her songs gave voice to the Argentine people’s daily emotions and experiences.
Mercedes Sosa’s performance at the National Folklore Festival in Cosqun, Argentina, in 1965 cemented her well-deserved celebrity. Perhaps it was here that Mercedes Sosa established her reputation as the “voice of the voiceless.” Later, during the period of political upheaval in Argentina that would send her into exile and result in the disappearance of thousands of young people, Sosa would continue to develop this identity.
Despite the tumultuous and oppressive political climate in Argentina during the 1970s, Mercedes Sosa continued to produce and record folk music, her albums containing social and political content. However, in 1979, Sosa’s political stance resulted in retaliation, and she was arrested alongside audience members during a concert performance. Mercedes Sosa was barred from singing in Argentina after her arrest.
She fled her homeland, unable to perform the deeply meaningful and content-rich songs that defined her. Sosa continued her career in voluntary exile in France and Spain until the 1980s, when she returned to Argentina. Mercedes Sosa resumed singing folk music after her return. She continued to speak for the voiceless, putting words to the plight of the Argentine people she had come to represent.