Rocío Dúrcal - Biography
By J Poet
Rocío Dúrcal was a Spanish actress and singer who once quipped, “I never wanted to be a star. I wanted to be an aviator or a hairdresser.” From 1962 to 1975 she was primarily known as an actress, but starting in 1977 she concentrated on her singing career. On a trip to Mexico, she discovered an affinity for ranchera, and made five successful albums singing the songs of Juan Gabriel, who was just becoming a star. In Mexico she became known as Queen of the Ranchera, but also recorded rock, tangos and Latin pop. She sold more than 53 million albums throughout the Latin world and died of cancer in 2006.
María de los Angeles de las Heras Ortiz was born in Madrid, the oldest in a family of six children. She sang as a child and by age 11 was winning enough money in talent contests to help support her struggling family. While working as a hairdresser, she continued to enter talent contests and won a spot on a TV variety program. She was signed to the film company Epoca after Luis Sanz, the company owner, saw her TV appearance singing a traditional song. She chose her stage name by closing her eyes and pointing at a map of Spain and selecting the town Dúrcal. Rocío was a nickname given to her by her grandfather, who encouraged her artistic endeavors.
The studio paid for singing and dancing lessons and Dúrcal became a teenage star in Spain with films like Canción de juventud (1962), Tengo 17 años (1964), Más bonita que ninguna (1965) and Acompáñame (1966.) She sang and danced in her films and appeared on soundtrack albums including Trébole (1963 Philips Spain), Villancicos De Rocío (1964 Philips Spain), Buenos Días, Condesita (1966 Philips Spain), Cristina Guzmán (1968 Philips Spain), and Las leandras (1970 Philips Spain.)
While on visits to Mexico to promote her films, Dúrcal began to appreciate ranchera, a dramatic folk/pop form of music. In 1970 she married Junior Morales of Los Bravos, the Spanish pop band that made an international splash with “Back Is Black.” She retired from show business to raise her children, but on a Mexican vacation she met Juan Gabriel and he convinced her to make an album of his songs. With Morales as her manager, she signed with Ariola and made Rocío Dúrcal Canta A Juan Gabriel (1977 Ariola Eurodisc España.) The album was a massive success going gold in Mexico and Spain. She followed up with more albums composed by Gabriel: Rocío Dúrcal Canta A Juan Gabriel Volumen 2 (1978 Ariola Eurodisc España), Rocío Dúrcal Canta A Juan Gabriel Volumen 3 (1979 Ariola Eurodisc España), Rocío Dúrcal Canta A Juan Gabriel Volumen 4 (1978 Ariola Eurodisc España), Cuando Decidas Volver (1980 Ariola Eurodisc España), Boleros: Canta Lo Romántico De Juan Gabriel (1982 Ariola Eurodisc España), Jardín De Rosas (1984 Ariola Eurodisc España), and Siempre (1980 Ariola Eurodisc España.)
Dúrcal found another compatible collaborator with pop songwriter Marco Antonio Solís and made Como Tu Mujer (1980 Ariola Eurodisc España) and
Si Te Pudiera Mentir (1990 Ariola Eurodisc España), which included the hits "Falso," "Me Duele Que Asi Te Vayas," and "La Balanza." She made Desaires (1993 Ariola Eurodisc España), another successful ranchera album with producer and writer Joan Sebastian before launching the pop effort Hay Amores Y Amores (1995 Ariola Eurodisc España) written and produced by Roberto Livi. Juntos Otra Vez (1997 BMG México) reunited her with Juan Gabriel and their duet “Destino” was a worldwide hit. Para Toda La Vida (1999 RCA International), with songs by Roberto Livi, was another pop smash and Dúrcal toured Spain to support it.
Caricias (2000 RCA International) another ranchero album, was produced by Bebú Silvetti and featuring the hits “Powque te quiero” and “Infiel.” Entre Tangos Y Mariachi (2001 RCA International) rearranged 10 Argentine hits as rancheras and scored with “Sombras nada mas" and "En esta tarde gris." In 2001 she was diagnosed with cancer, but kept touring. Dúrcal made two more albums before her death in 2006, Caramelito (2003 RCA International) and Alma Ranchera (2004 RCA International.)