Award-Winning Argentine Singer Mercedes Sosa Dies at 74 - washingtonpost.com: Mercedes Sosa, an Argentine singer who emerged as a electrifying voice of conscience throughout Latin America for songs that championed social justice in the face of government repression, died today at a medical clinic in Buenos Aires. She was 74 and had liver, kidney and heart ailments.
With a rich contralto voice, Ms. Sosa was foremost a compelling singer whose career spanned five decades. She performed with entertainers as varied as rock star Sting, the Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanes and folk singer Joan Baez, who said she was so moved by Ms. Sosa's 'tremendous charisma' and emotive firepower that she once dropped to her knees and kissed Ms. Sosa's feet.
Ms. Sosa's towering artistry, which led to several Latin Grammy Awards, belied her physical dimensions. Short, round, dark-skinned and often dressed in peasant clothing, Ms. Sosa was affectionately nicknamed 'La Negra' (the Black One) as an homage to her indigenous ancestry.
