Laura Canales

A short note on the recent passing of one of the great Tejano singers. Here's the lead from a story in the Washington Post:

"Laura Canales, 50, a soulful Tejano singer who stormed the stage at a time when men tended to hog the Tejano limelight, died April 16 of complications from bladder surgery at Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Tex.

Known in the 1980s as La reina de la onda tejana (Queen of the Tejano Wave), she blazed a trail for other female musicians, including Selena, the Tejano superstar who was shot to death a decade ago. "

Other stories in the N.Y. Times, the Houston Chronicle (which comments, "Although she was predated by pioneers Chelo Silva and Lydia Mendoza, Laura Canales was the first widely popular female singer in the macho world of Tejano music"), and the Brownsville (TX) Herald.

Descanse en paz.