Elvira Ríos
| Elvira Ríos | |
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Ríos as Yakima in Stagecoach (1939)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | María Elvira Gallegos Ríos |
| Born | 16 November 1913 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | 13 January 1987 (aged 73) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Genres | |
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| Instruments | Vocals |
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María Elvira Gallegos Ríos (16 November 1913 – 13 January 1987) was a Mexican singer and actress.
One of the most notable performers of Agustín Lara's songs, Ríos was the first Mexican singer who achieved international success through radio, records, nightclub engagements, tours, and films. She was well known in Mexico, United States, Brazil, Argentina, and France, among other countries. Some of her greatest hits are "Noche de ronda", "Flores negras", "Perfidia", "Desesperadamente", and "Ausencia".
Ríos was born on 16 November 1913 in La Lagunilla, a neighborhood of central Mexico City. She was the firstborn child of José María Gallegos Villalobos and María Guadalupe Ríos Rodríguez. She had a younger brother, José Gallegos Ríos (d. 1993), and a younger sister, Soledad Gallegos Ríos (d. 1981).
According to one source, Ríos was discovered by Agustín Lara when the songwriter heard her singing in a nightclub in Mexico City. After hearing the great imitation she was able to make of him (with her deep contralto voice), he invited her to his house and promised to make her a great star. However, another source says that she became one of the main performers of the XEW station after she auditioned for Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, who immediately signed her for three daily 15-minute spots; this happened in 1936. She made her record debut singing "Pensaba que tu amor" and "Cachito de sol" with Lara.
She made her debut in Mexican films singing "Noche de ronda" in ¡Esos hombres! (released in 1937). Manuel Riachi, an assistant to Paramount Pictures producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., discovered her singing over XEW and took her to Hollywood to appear in the musical Tropic Holiday, where she sang songs by Lara and played Tito Guízar's sister. She was then chosen to play a young Apache woman named Yakima in John Ford's Stagecoach. In March 1938, NBC signed her as a sustaining artist and gave her her own 15-minute program every Thursday with Frank Hodek's orchestra. Her success on the West Coast led her to New York City, where she performed at the popular nightclub La Martinique and began a series of recordings for the Decca label. After New York, she performed in Miami at the Miami-Biltmore Hotel with Maximillian Bergere's orchestra.
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