Nydia Rojas

Nydia Rojas (born 1980, Whittier, California), daughter of Arturo and Olivia Rojas, is an American singer of Mexican/Cuban/Yaqui Indian heritage and active on the mariachi circuit. She performs in a wide range of musical styles such as jazz, soul, and R&B, but makes a particular specialty of mariachi.

Nydia spent several years of her early childhood in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she was exposed to local musical styles which greatly influenced her later career.

At age 9, she sang in the East Los Angeles restaurant El Mercadito, which marked the albeit small beginning of her public performing career. That same year, she performed at a retirement home in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and the following year, at age 10, she embarked on a semi-regular gig at another restaurant, El Taco Loco in Hawaiian Gardens. Initially she sang with a mariachi group which already performed at the restaurant, but soon she was in demand in her own right. In this context she accepted requests for songs from restaurant patrons, arranging to learn them for the following week if songs were requested with which she was unfamiliar.

Nydia attended Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, CA as well as Orange County High School of the Arts in Los Alamitos, CA. She was also involved with the Mariachi Heritage Society Program based in East Los Angeles, CA. Her first violin and guitar instructor was Laura Sobrino, a pioneer female mariachi musician. One of her mentors was José Hernàndez, founder of Mariachi Sol de Mexico, who also produced her debut album. She also studied voice with Heriberto Molina ("El Cura"), one of the original members of the great Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan.

At age 13, Nydia became a vocalist/guitarist with the all-female Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, which provided a spring-board for her to gain a solo contract with the Arista Latin recording label. Her debut solo album, self-titled, was recorded when she was 15 years of age then released after her 16th birthday. In the next five years another three solo albums followed. During this time her performances played to packed audiences of up to 18,000 fans.

Nydia Rojas released her debut album at 16 years of age and started setting the pace for mariachi music in the U.S. Nydia gained plenty of praise^{[citation needed]} as she performed all throughout the country and her music was heard in many different lands, helping her gain fans from Mexico to Germany to Japan. She was invited to perform for President Clinton during his inauguration, and later that year, she was declared a mariachi sensation by USA Today.^{[citation needed]}

Nydia's third album, Si Me Conocieras, was nominated for a Latin Grammy award alongside such established artists as Vicente Fernández and Alejandro Fernández, and Antonio and Pepe Aguilar. Although she did not win the award, it further established her as an outstanding performer in her field, and soon after this she went on two national tours with the great Juan Gabriel. The first tour gave her the opportunity to work closely with Gabriel who expressed much admiration for her talent, and led to her recording her fourth solo album, Nydia, which for the first time took more of a mainstream Latin pop direction while still displaying all of Nydia's musical skills. Juan Gabriel sang two duets with Nydia on this album and named her one of the best interpreters of his music from her generation.^{[citation needed]}

In Nov. 2008, Nydia reunited with Juan Gabriel for a performance at the Auditorio Nacional de Mexico. She is currently working on her 5th CD.

Personal life

In 2008, Nydia married Cuban Drummer, Raul Pineda. They currently live in Los Angeles, CA.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Label	Tracklist	Chart	Position
1996	Nydia Rojas	Arista Latin	No Me Amenaces Mexico y Su Musica No Te Quiero Ver Desden Hay Unos Ojos (with Ricardo Castillon) Si Sabes Agradecer Cuando Estoy Contigo Te Olvidare Mi Mejor Amiga La Numero Uno	US Top Latin Albums	50
1997	Florecer	Arista Latin	Llevame Contigo Que Te Vaya Bien Dime Por Que Amor Con Desamor Te Equivocas Di Amame Mas Quiero Estar Contigo Paso Las Noches Mi Llanto Vale Mas Tres
1999	Si Me Conocieras	Hollywood Records	Vidita Mia Te Volvere a Encontrar No Se Mas de Mi El Jaripeo Dime Que Piensas Luna Blanca Si Me Conocieras Buscando Amores Smile La Retirada Nuestra Fiesta
2001	Nydia	Hollywood Records	Siempre en Mi Mente Me Gusta Bailar No Vale La Pena (with Juan Gabriel) Ya Lo So Que Tu Te Vas Insensible (with Juan Gabriel) Debo Hacerlo Te Lo Pido por Favor He Venido a Pedirte Perdon Yo No Naci Para Amar No Se Ha Dado Cuenta Siempre en Mi Mente (with Juan Gabriel) No Vale La Lena [Mariachi version] Ya Lo Se Que Tu Te Vas [Mariachi version] Te Lo Pido Por Favor [Orchestral version]

Singles

Incomplete single discography.

• La Número Uno.
• No Vale la Pena (2001) — #9 (US Hot Latin Tracks), #15 (Latin Pop Airplay), #23 (Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay), #28 (Latin Regional Mexican Airplay).

External links

• Discography on Amazon.com
• Artistpage on VH1
• Listen to samples of Nydia music

Persondata
Name	Rojas, Nydia
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Date of birth	1981
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