La Lupe - Puro Teatro

Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, "La Lupe"
1939 - 1992

Guadalupe Yoli, originally from Santiago, Cuba, moved to New York City in the early '60s. Her great talent became evident with her first recording with another Cuban, Mongo Santamaria. La Lupe is probably best remembered for her recordings with Tito Puente. Together they produced some of the most memorable hits that are considered classics worldwide. La Lupe also recorded with many other legends of Salsa music before passing on in 1992.

La Lupe's dynamic and unique stage performances made her one of the most sought after artists in dance halls throughout the city. Her fame and popularity continued to grow and created a tremendous interest that spread beyond the Latino community. Americans started to discover this new and explosive singing sensation. With her strong voice, her hot love affairs, drug problems, poor business management and a large following of gays, the media referred to her as the Latina "Judy Garland."

She was considered to be one of Latin Music's Top Female Stars of all time. Her song "Puro Teatro" became an international hit after movie director Pedro Almodovar used the song in his film "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."

In 1985, after being a practicante of santeria all her life, she became a born again christian.

La Lupe died of natural causes in 1992 at 53, a pauper.

Links

La Lupe: The scandalous queen of salsa 10/1/2008 Guardian: "As Lupe Yoli starts singing, she seems quite restrained. But when the rhythm intensifies, the bad girl of Latin music belts out her Spanish-language cover of My Way in a deep, raspy voice with an almost disturbing sexual abandon. Dressed in a skintight gold lamé catsuit, she clutches her breasts, squeals "Ay! Aieeyyee!" in mock pain, grunts and removes her gold stilettoes. Think Eartha Kitt, but camper. Watching this clip of the Afro-Cuban bombshell's "manic cavorting" (as the New York Times had it) on the Dick Cavett Show in 1973, it is easy to understand why Pedro Almodóvar used her song Puro Teatro in his film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."

"La Lupe" was a cult figure in pre-revolutionary Cuba, a musical legend who pioneered salsa. Her flamboyant stage persona and soulful torch songs brought her international success in the 1960s and 1970s and made her a gay icon in the Latin world. But after a series of tragedies she became a devout Christian, vowed never to perform again and died in poverty and obscurity in her early 50s.

Now, 16 years after her death, a documentary, La Lupe - Queen of Latin Soul, has sparked renewed recognition of her place both in musical history and as a feminist icon. The documentary includes rare footage and interviews with the salsa greats, and, since being shown on television in the US, has been screened in many countries. And it is only one part of a major posthumous comeback for La Lupe. Earlier this year, Fania Records (the salsa equivalent of Motown) released Dance With the Queen, an album of club remixes of her songs, and this summer saw publication of a novel, The Island of Eternal Love, featuring a character based on her.

Igual que en un escenario
Finges tu dolor barato
Tu drama no es necesario
Ya conozco ese teatro
Mintiendo que bien te queda el papel
Despues de todo parece
Que es tu forma de ser

Yo confiaba ciegamente
En la fiebre de tus besos
Mentiste serenamente
Y el telon cayo por eso

Teatro...
lo tuyo es puro teatro
falsedad bien ensayada
estudiado simulacro
Fue tu mejor actuacion
Destrozar mi corazon
y hoy que me lloras de veras
Recuerdo tu simulacro
Perdona que no te crea
me parece que es teatro

y acuerdate que segun tu punta de vista yo soy la mala!
Ay!!

Teatro...
lo tuyo es puro teatro
falsedad bien ensayada
estudiado simulacro
Fue tu mejor actuacion
Destrozar mi corazon
y hoy que me lloras de veras
Recuerdo tu simulacro
Perdona que no te crea
me parece que es teatro
Perdona que no te crea
Lo tuyo es puro...
Teatrooooo.

Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, "La Lupe"
1939 - 1992

Links

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.

Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, "La Lupe" 1939 - 1992

Links

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.

Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, "La Lupe"
1939 - 1992