Chelo (Consuelo Silva) was a popular singer of Mexican

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

music who had a long career, spanning from the 1930s to the 1980s. She was born in 1922. She belongs to the

Golden Age of Mexican cinema The Golden Age of Mexican cinema ( es, Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano) is a period in the history of the Cinema of Mexico between 1930 and 1969 when the Mexican film industry reached high levels of production, quality and economic success of its ...

Early life

She was born in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, on August 25, 1922, the eldest of seven children. As a teenager, Silva performed with her school and church, eventually performing locally with a local group, Tito Crixell Orchestra.

Career

Silva became popular in Brownsville and was invited to perform on

Americo Paredes Americo (or Américo) is a Portuguese- and Spanish-language given name, occasionally used as a surname and in other cultures. It is a variant of the name Henry. English diminutives or hypocorisms include Rico & Eric. People with the name includ ...

' radio show. She continued to perform on the radio, as well as at the Continental Club in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

, gaining popularity quickly through her spin on the romantic song style. She signed to Falcon Records in 1952, and her popularity rose throughout the Southwest.

Peerless Records Peerless Records was a record label based in Mexico. Peerless was founded in 1921 in Mexico City by E. Baptista. Early pressings of their gramophone record were made under contract by Gennett Records. By 1933, Peerless was pressing its own recor ...

began to distribute her recordings in Mexico and her fame became international. She signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1955. Usually accompanied by a guitar trio, she became known as "''La Reina de Los Boleros''". She toured the United States, Mexico and South America until the 1980s. She performed with some of the great stars of her time, including

José Alfredo Jiménez José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval (; 19 January 1926 – 23 November 1973) was a Mexican singer-songwriter of rancheras, whose songs are considered the basis of modern Mexican music. Biography Jiménez was born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, M ...

Javier Solís Gabriel Siria Levario (4 September 1931 – 19 April 1966), known professionally as Javier Solís, was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genres of bolero and ranchera. Early life Gabriel Siria Levario was the first of t ...

and

Lola Beltrán María Lucila Beltrán Ruiz (7 March 1932 – 24 March 1996), known professionally as Lola Beltrán, was a Mexican actress and singer. Beltrán is and was one of Mexico's most acclaimed singers of Ranchera and Huapango music. She made the ...

Personal life

Silva and Paredes were married in 1939, shortly after they had met on his radio show. They were divorced after being married for a few years and had a son, Americo Paredes Jr., during their marriage. Silva later married Leopoldo Morales Perez, with whom she had a daughter, Garnette Perez, and two sons, Rene and Les Perez. Silva was inducted the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame in 2004. She was also inducted into the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. Silva died of cancer on April 2, 1988, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Hits

Among her most popular hits are "Está Sellado", "Sabes de Qué Tengo Ganas" "Amor Aventurero" and "Soy Bohemia".

References

Mexican women singers American musicians of Mexican descent Columbia Records artists Women in Latin music {{Mexico-singer-stub