María Martha Serra Lima (December 19, 1942–November 2, 2017) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

canción melódica Canción melódica (; Spanish for "melodic song"), also known as canción ligera ("light song") is a genre of Spanish-language popular music typically defined by sentimental ballads with light, orchestral arrangements. It grew out of traditional f ...

singer.

Life and work

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

to a family of auto dealership proprietors, Serra Lima was first signed on to a record label in 1977, and became famous across

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for her

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

vocal texture and her repertoire of love ballads and

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 h ...

s, she collaborated extensively with singer-songwriters from elsewhere in Latin America, particularly Mexican standards such as

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos were a '' trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and the Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exporters of the bolero and the romantic balla ...

and

Armando Manzanero Armando Manzanero Canché (7 December 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Mexican musician, singer, composer, actor and music producer, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful comp ...

; among her best-known, non-Hispanic interpretations is that of

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

's ''

My Way "My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language lyrical adaptation of the French song " Comme d'habitude", released by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The original song was written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude François, and was first recor ...

''. Her albums became hits in

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 ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and elsewhere in the region, apart from her home country. She shared the stage with numerous major international singers, done multiple international tours and won many awards through her career as a singer. Serra Lima sold in excess of 10 million albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Discography

*''María Martha Serra Lima'' (1978) *''Personal'' (1979) *''Entre nosotros'' (1980) *''Estilo'' (1982) *''Sentir'' (1983) *''Esencia romántica 2'' (1984) *''Plenamente'' (1985) *''El viaje'' (1986) *''¡10 años contigo!'' (1987) *''Matices'' (1989) *''Mis boleros'' (1989) *''Quién soy'' (1990) *''Lo mejor de mí'' (1991) *''Como nunca'' (1993) *''Símbolo de amor'' (1994) *''Cosas de la vida'' (1995) *''Para estar contigo'' (1996) *''Esencia romántica 3'' (1998) *''Baladas de amor'' (2001) *''Intensa'' (2004) *''Con el alma'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serra Lima, Maria Martha 1944 births 2017 deaths Singers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine contraltos 21st-century Argentine women singers