Malena Cano (also known as La Perla) is a

ranchero music Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in the vast majority of regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional fol ...

and

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

singer from the

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

area. She is known for her work in both music and stage.

Biography

Cano began performing after winning a singing contest at a local radio station when she was ten years old. Later, at age 16, she would perform at the El Paso Coliseum and other Southwest venues. She sang with a band called The Ruby's and the lead singer of the group, Eugene Anchondo, gave her the nickname, "La Perla." Her work, singing with

s was groundbreaking, as women were traditionally excluded from that kind of music. Cano's singing has been popular in the

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

areas. Around 1979, she began acting on stage. and In addition to stage-work, she also incorporates history from the region into her performances. One of her shows, ''Viva Mexico'', explores

Mexican history The history of Mexico spans over three millennia, with the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherer settlement 13,000 years ago. Central and southern Mexico, known as Mesoamerica, saw the rise of complex civilizations that developed glyphic writing ...

through song and dance. In 1990, Cano was nominated in the first Hispanic Music Awards Show. She was awarded "Best Local Female

Mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

Vocalist" in 1993. One of her performance costumes was donated to the Smithsonian and she has been "enshrined" in the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

as a Texas folk artist. In 2017, she was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Official siteMalena Cano - ''De Que Manera Te Olivdo''
(2017 video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cano, Malena American ranchera singers Actresses from El Paso, Texas Mariachi musicians American actresses of Mexican descent 21st-century American singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Singers from Texas Hispanic and Latino American women singers Spanish-language singers of the United States 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers