Song:De Cara a la Pared
Album:La Llorona
So when you listen to Lhasa de Sela, you might think she is from South America. But she was born in the US and lived in Montreal. She won awards in Canada. Sadly she died of breast cancer in 2010 at age 37. She was born Sept. 27, 1972 in Big Indian, NY. Her father is language instructor Alejandro Sela originally from Mexico. Her mother is photographer Alexandra Karam. The family lived a nomadic existence in a converted school bus between Mexico and the US. Lhasa was 13 when her parents separated and she and her sisters moved with their mom to San Francisco. Lhasa sang in local clubs as a teen and a documentary about Billie Holiday convinced her to become a singer. In 1991, she visited her sisters who were attending the National Circus School of Canada in Montreal. Lhasa decided to move to Montreal. She sang in local clubs usually accompanied by guitarist Yves Desrosiers. She was spotted by Audiogram Records general manager Denis Wolff and he signed her to a contract. Lhasa's 1997 debut CD La Llorona was produced by Desrosiers. He went on to be Sarah McLachlan's guitarist. Though Lhasa is not fluent in Spanish, she likes to sing in Spanish. The CD was released in the US by Atlantic Records. So despite the fact that she sings in Spanish as opposed to French, Lhasa became a big deal in Quebec. She won a Best World Artist Juno award in 1998. And also won a Felix which is a music award in Quebec. The album was certified Platinum in Canada. Lhasa was on the Lilith Fair tours. Then she moved to France in 1999 to join her sisters theater company. They lived out of a trailer just like when they were kids. Lhasa moved back to Montreal in 2003 to record her second CD The Living Road. She sang in English, Spanish and French. She released her third CD Lhasa in 2009. She was supposed to go on a world tour but was forced to cancel after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died on Jan. 1, 2011 at age 37. Local artists like singer songwriter Patrick Watson put on a memorial concert for Lhasa Jan. 6, 2012 at the Rialto Theater in Montreal. When the show sold out, a second show was added. It just shows how popular Lhasa was in Montreal. Here's Lhasa performing De Cara a la Pared.
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