Lydia Mendoza (May 31, 1916 – December 20, 2007) was an American guitarist and singer of Tejano, conjunto, and traditional Mexican-American music. See high school TV and movie icons then and now, from "Looking for some great streaming picks?
Her father was a railroad mechanic along the Texas Like many migrant families of the era, the Mendozas relocated to The family found a steady audience in the Mexican farm workers who migrated to San Antonio. Lydia Mendoza (May 21, 1916 – December 20, 2007) was an American guitarist and singer of Tejano music.
To keep the peace, she retired; however, she was the more financially successful wage earner in the family, so she eventually went back to touring with her family.Although she had been born in Texas and lived most of her life in the United States, the last several decades in San Antonio, Mendoza never learned to speak English. It has been estimated that the aggregate total of her records number an estimated 200 different songs on at least 50 The sampling below are from her earliest recordings with her family.Associated Press. Born May 21, 1916, in Houston, TX, she was the product of a musical family; she performed with her parents and sister Francisca in a group, La Familia Mendoza, which found success in local variety shows, and her other sisters Maria and Juanita made up their own popular duet act, Las Hermanas Mendoza. Born in Houston, Ms. Mendoza learned to sing and play the 12-string guitar before she was 12, and later learned to play violin and mandolin. One of the most talented and popular musicians in the history of Tejano music, Lydia Mendoza, La Alondra de la Frontera (The Lark of the Border), was born into a musical family of Mexican immigrants in Houston in 1916. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Born to a musical family in Houston, Texas, in 1916, Lydia Mendoza launched her own career in music by 1934, after having performed musically in her lower-class immigrant family's band since 1928. During World War II, and for several years afterward, Mendoza and her sisters Juanita and Marie performed as Las Hermana Mendoza (the Mendoza sisters). By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. She is known as La Alondra de la Frontera (The Lydia Mendoza …
Their music and success fostered a period of good will and self-pride in the non-white audiences. During this period, Mendoza Outside of that comfortable niche, persons of all color faced discrimination at hotels, restaurants, and other places where a "whites only" policy existed.
In 1999, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by First Lady Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton, and in 2003 she was bestowed with the Texas Cultural Trust’s Texas Medal of Arts. She was only 12 years old, but Lydia provided vocals and played the mandolin for the recordings. It was during this time that Lydia first learned the song “Mal Hombre” (Bad Man) that would become her signature tune. Selena , (SELENA QUINTANILLA PEREZ), U.S.-born Hispanic singer (born April 16, 1971, Lake Jackson, Texas—died March 31, 1995, Corpus Christi, Texas), was dubbed the Latin Madonna and was poised to achieve crossover success with the release of her first English-language album before being m… In 1984, she was inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame, and in 1991, into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame.
She was only 12 years old, but Lydia provided vocals and played the mandolin for the recordings. Born to a musical family in Houston, Texas, in 1916, Lydia Mendoza launched her own career in music by 1934, after having performed musically in her lower-class immigrant family's band since 1928.
At the age of four, she built her own guitar out of wood, nails, and rubber bands. provides an overview of the year’s most-notable people and events.