Laura Canales

Laura Canales (born August 19, 1954 - died April 16, 2005) was a Tejano musician.

She made her recording debut in 1973 with Los Unicos before joining El Conjunto Bernal. Her first regional hit was a cover of "Midnight Blue", which she performed with Snowball & Company.

In 1981, Canales married drummer Balde Muñoz and formed "Laura Canales and Encanto".

"Sí Viví Contigo", was Canales' first major hit.

In 1983, Gov. Mark White honored her with, "The Yellow Rose of Texas Award," the state’s highest honor for artists.

From 1983 to 1986, Canales won both the female entertainer and female vocalist honors at the Tejano Music Awards, a record that stood until Selena broke it in the 1990s.

In 1989, Canales quit Encanto and went into semiretirement. Her later comeback yielded hits including "Cuatro Caminos", "Dame la Mano" and "Dile a Tu Esposa".

Prior to her illness (pneumonia due to gall bladder surgery), Canales was on the "Leyendas y Raises" tour, which also included fellow tejano performers Carlos Guzman, Agustin Ramirez, Sunny Ozuna, Freddie Martinez, Mario Montes and Grupo Sierra.

Sources

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* [http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=6793&Section=Local The Monitor - McAllen, Texas]