Rocio Durcal

Spanish superstar Rocio Dúrcal was born María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz in Madrid on October 4, 1944. At fifteen she performed on television, singing “La somba vendo”, and impressing Luis Sanz, a show business agent who contacted her and signed her as a client. By 1962 she had established herself as both a box office star and a successful musical artist. Her 1970 marriage to musician Antonio Morales, who became his new wife’s manager, led to the two regularly performed together, though Morales would abandon his career after a few years to raise their children. Dúrcal abandoned her acting career in 1977 to focus exclusively on music. She formed a highly successful creative partnership with Juan Gabriel, recording a series of albums full of rancheras, culminating in 1984’s Canta A Juan Gabriel Volumen 6 which became a smash on the U.S. Latin chart and was added to the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame thirty years after its release. The floodgates opened and Dúrcal scored a string of hit Latin singles throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s including chart-toppers like 1986’s “La Guirnalda”, 1988’s “Como Tu Mujer”, and 1997’s “El Destino”. The last of the 14 top 10 singles came in 2001 with “Infiel”. Shortly thereafter she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She would manage one more tour before passing away on March 25, 2006 in Madrid.