Paquita La Del Barrio

In 1970 Francisca Viveros Barradas left her native Veracruz behind and settled in Mexico City, a move that quickly turned her into a public figure under the name Paquita la del Barrio. Onstage she specialized in feminist numbers whose lyrics delivered pointed attacks on macho posturing, winning her loyal listeners from every corner of the nation. Although her earliest releases never registered as major commercial successes, she still stood out as one of the most arresting local figures of her time. She later cracked the charts and spent the following four decades building a following that stretched across Mexico—where her uncompromising stance found eager acceptance—as well as through much of South and Central America and into Spain. Her 2015 album No Hay Mujeres Feas (trans. There Are No Ugly Women), her thirty-third, entered the Top Latin albums chart at number 14 early the next year.