04 Mercedes Sosa

Mercedes Sosa (Haydée Mercedes Sosa), (born July 9, 1935, San
Miguel de Tucumán, Arg.—died Oct. 4, 2009, Buenos Aires, Arg.),
Argentine folk singer who was known as “the voice of the voiceless”
for her songs that spoke of the struggle for economic and political
justice. She was a leading proponent of the nueva canción movement
of the 1960s, which used traditional music to express political
themes. Sosa, who possessed a powerful and dramatic alto voice, was
known as a peerless interpreter of songs written by others. Her
first album, La voz de la zafra, appeared in 1959, but it was her
1965 performance at Argentina’s national folklore festival in
Cosquín that brought her national attention and increasing
popularity. After the military took power in 1976, she was subject
to official harassment that culminated in the public arrest of
Sosa, her band, and much of her audience at a concert in 1979. Sosa
went into exile, during which time she began to expand her
repertoire to include other forms of popular music; she returned to
Argentina in 1982. She won Latin Grammy Awards for best folk album
in 2000 for Misa Criolla, in 2003 for Acústico, in 2006 for Corazón
libre, and in 2009 for Cantora Vol. 1.