Tag Archives: Pecados y milagros

Downs Wins Her First-Ever Grammy Award

Posted on by
2

It’s official… Lila Downs can add “Grammy winner” to her list of accomplishments…

The 44-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter earned her first gramophone from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences at the 55th Grammy Awards.

Lila Downs

Downs, who mixes indigenous Mexican roots music with contemporary sounds, picked up the award at a pre-Grammy telecast event in the  Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) category.

Downs’ Pecados y Milagros won in a category often dominated by Mexican regional genres like ranchera and norteño. Besides English and Spanish, Downs sings in indigenous Mexican languages like Mixtec, Zapotec and Nahuatl, an artistic choice that underscores her political involvement in supporting native people’s rights.

But Downs wasn’t the only Hispanic artist to win a Grammy this year…

Miguel, who led the Latino field of Grammy nominees with five nods, won the first gramophone of his career in the Best R&B Song category.

The 27-year-old half-Mexican American singer-songwriter picked up the award for his hit single “Adorn,” which dominated the Billboard charts last year.

Juanes, who performed during  Sunday night’s show, won the award for Best Latin Pop Album for his most recent work, MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition. It’s the latest award for the 40-year-old Colombian singer’s highly acclaimed project, which won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year last November. It’s the second Grammy of Juanes’ career.

Esperanza Spalding, who beat Justin Bieber for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards, won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her sophomore project Radio Music Society. She also won in the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) category for “City of Roses” with Thara Memory. It’s the second and third Grammy awards for the 28-year-old part-Mexican singer, who will be starring in the remake of A Star is Born.

Other Latino winners include Quetzal’s Imaginaries for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album and Marlow Rosado y La Riqueña’s Retro for Best Tropical Latin Album.

Downs Recognized for Being a Voice Mexico’s Indigenous People

Posted on by
Reply

Throughout her career, Lila Downs has incorporated indigenous Mexican influences into her music… And now she’s being recognized for being a voice for the country’s indigenous population.

The 44-year-old Mexican singer/songwriter, who has recorded songs in indigenous languages like Mixtec, Zapotec, Mayan, Nahuatl and P’urhépecha, has been honored by the organization Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders for her work spreading awareness about indigenous people.

Lila Downs

Downs, who divides her time between New York and her native Mexico, accepted the Yoloxochitl Award from last year’s recipient, chef Zarela Martinez, who helped pioneer Mexican cuisine in the Big Apple.

Being honored by her compatriots “is an opportunity to make known that a very great effort is being made to educate and share cultural spaces that exist for the Mexican community,” the Latin Grammy-winning artist told Efe.

After picking up her award, Downs entertained the audience by performing several of her songs.

Every year, Mano a Mano honors a person “who represents who we are,” the organization’s executive director, said Juan Carlos Aguirre.

“Lila represents a very important segment of Mexico, with all its cultural diversity,” he said.

Born in southern Mexico to an Anglo-American father and a Mixtec Indian mother, Downs fuses indigenous and traditional music with genres such as folk, blues, jazz, hip hop and rock.

She is currently touring the United States to showcase her latest album, Pecados y milagros.