Elsa Garcia is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

singer and producer from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She has had four albums certified gold, and was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 1991 for her album, ''Simplemente''.

Early life

Elsa Garcia was born in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The daughter of Mexican singer Hermelinda “Linda La Norteña” Escamilla, she was introduced to music at an early age. Her family moved to Houston, Texas, when she was two years old. Before coming to music, Garcia had worked at different jobs including deejay, accountant, and banker. She also hosted her own radio talk show.

Career

Elsa Garcia who has been involved in music for over fifteen years and not only performs and records, she also produces and arranges her own albums, making her the first female producer in the Tejano music industry causing her to coin the nickname "La Primera Dama". Garcia started as a replacement vocalist for her husband's band after their lead singer was experiencing throat problems and could not perform. The band then renamed to Elsa Garcia and Company and released their first album ''Yo Nunca Pense'' in 1984. Notable songs from the album are ''Aventura De Mi Vida'' and ''Agonia''. The band then released the album ''Fresh'' in 1986 which had a cover of Juan Gabriel's hit song ''Tu No Me Dijiste Adios.'' Elsa leading the band into releasing two more albums ''Olvidemosos'' (1987) and ''Que Piensas'' (1988). The band's last independent album ''Ella'' (1989) gained the group hometown success. Notable songs from the album are ''Ella,'' ''Tres,'' ''Todo Se Va'' and ''Ayer Estuven Con Mi Nuevo Amor.'' In 1989 the band signed with EMI Latin which was a growing attraction for many Tejano bands. The band renaming to just Elsa Garcia was off to success and putting all of the spotlight on Garcia. The newly signed band got their first EMI Latin album ''Simplemente'' (1990) a Grammy nomination. The next album the band released with EMI Latin ''Ni Mas, Ni Menos'' (1991) was the first album to be certified gold thanks to the song "Ya Te Vi." The band had a lot of success and garnered lots of popularity with their albums ''Pasion,'' (1992) ''Escapate Conmigo,'' (1993) and ''Diez.'' (1995) ''Escapate Conmigo'' released in 1993 gave the band their second grammy nomination and became one of the bands more well received albums. Garcia who at this point became one of the driving forced in Tejano Music despite being a male dominated industry was ready to celebrate her tenth year in music. The album ''Diez'' (1995) showed to be the bands most popular album. The album had two of Garcia's biggest hits ''Diez,'' and ''La Luna Sera La Luna.'' After the death of friend Selena Quintanilla-Perez Garcia participated in the Selena tribute at the Houston Astrodome on May 29, 1995. Later in 1995, the then mayor of Houston declared that October 24 would be Elsa Garcia day. In 2011, Garcia was inducted into the Tejano roots Hall of Fame. In 2012, she was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the

Tejano Music Awards The Tejano Music Awards (TMA) is an accolade created by former arts teacher and musician Rudy Trevino in 1980. The accolade recognizes outstanding performers of Tejano music, a German polka music, polka-based Latin music (genre), Latin music genre ...

. Garcia has been retired from music since 1999 but has made a comeback in the recent year (2024). Garcia's signature tunes on stage were ''La Luna Sera La Luna'' and ''Ya Te Vi.'' She is one of a few Tejano artists to get radio airplay in Mexico during the 1990s.

Discography

* ''Yo Nunca Pense'' 1984 * ''Fresh'' 1986 * ''Olvidemonos'' 1987 * ''Que Piensas'' 1988 * ''Ella'' 1989 * ''Simplemente'' 1990 * ''Ni Mas, Ni Menos'' 1991 * ''Pasion'' 1992 * ''10 Grandes Exitos'' 1992 * ''Escapate Conmigo'' 1993 * ''12 Super Exitos'' 1994 * ''Diez'' 1995 * ''Tu Solamente Tu'' 1995 * ''Live Vol. 1'' 1996 * ''Como Tu Y Yo'' 1996 * ''Elsa'' 1998 * ''Tejano All Stars'' 2002 * ''Original Masters'' 2003 * ''15 De Coleccion'' 2003 * ''Face off: Elsa Garcia & Laura Canales'' 2008

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Elsa Living people 20th-century American women singers Tejano pop musicians 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Singers from Monterrey Singers from Houston Mexican emigrants to the United States Women in Latin music Year of birth missing (living people)