Regional Mexican Music in Mourning

The vocalist of K-Paz de la Sierra was kidnapped in December of last year after a performance in Michoacán, Mexico. Two days after his abduction, his body was found in the town of Chiquimitío with signs of torture –even his testicles were burned– and strangled.

The 27-year-old, better known as El Gallo de Oro, was murdered in November 2006, 20 minutes after performing in a concert in the city of Reynosa, Mexico. Armed members of the criminal gang known as Los Zeta intercepted his vehicle on the road and shot him 28 times.

At the young age of 27, the singer of the group Zayda y los Culpables was attacked in December 2007 by a hit man who went to her hotel in the city of Matamoros, Mexico, and after shooting one of her male friends and a female employee, shot her and left her seriously wounded. After being taken to a hospital, another hit man came and ended her life.

The singer of the group Alazanes de Sonora was found dead in the early days of September this year in Sierra de Caborca , in the state of Sonora, Mexico. He had disappeared two days earlier after singing in a private party. The 19-year-old musician was shot in the head, and the motives of his death remain unknown.

The group singer known as El Koquillo de Sinaloa was murdered at the age of 20, victim of multiple bullet impacts in January this year in the town of Guasave, México, his native state. The facts surrounding his death are still being investigated by the authorities.

The group music world was shaken up again in February this year after the murder of El Gallito. The body of the 26-year-old singer was found in the city of Tijuana, Mexico, with three bullets in his temple. His assistant was killed with him.

In April 1995, when she was only 23 years old and was at the peak of her career, the Queen of Tex-Mex was shot to death by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, in the middle of a heated discussion in a hotel. Despite her death, year after year her followers pay her tribute and she still stands high among the most famous celebrities.

The member of the group Los Conde also disappeared in December of the same year in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, and, amid an intense search operation, his body was found under a bridge in the municipality of El Sapo with his feet and hands tied. The forensic report could only conclude that he died of asphyxia and head contusions.