Lucha+Reyes

Lucila J. Sarsines Reyes (July 19, 1936 - October 31, 1973), was a Peruvian performer and one of the most respected singers of her country, one of Peru's most famous Afro-Peruvian personalities as well as a symbol of Peruvian nationalism both in Peru and to expatriates[6].

Lucha Reyes was born into a very poor family being 1 of 16 siblings. At a very young age her father died and her mother was forced to put up her children for adoption. Lucha lived in an orphanage until the age of 12 where she began working in the circus business. This is where her career began and developed[6].

In her teen-years, Reyes would put on singing shows in front of families and friends, and it was at one of these shows that she met Pitito Perez, a famous Peruvian singer of the era. Perez liked her voice and invited her to join him in a duo[6]. The duo was named Lucha y Juan. The duo would give Reyes the opportunity to be heard on national radio stations[6]. Lucha Reyes debuted on radio in a show named El Sentir de los Barrios (or "The way the Barrio/People Feel") singing the cultural standard "Abandonada" of Sixto Carrera, a song with lyrics that many think resembled her own experiences on the streets[6].

She has a very rough life, (as depicted in her music). At a very young age she married a police officer who was killed shortly after, she was then diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and tuberculosis simultaneously. In her next remaining years she attempted to pursue her singing career further but soon died at the age of 37[6].

Reyes acted sporadically in theater plays around Lima and would later go on to act in a movie named Una Carta al Cielo ("A Letter to Heaven") of Salvador Oda, about a boy whose dead mother (voiced-over by Reyes) would speak to him[6]. It convinced Reyes she had a future in acting as well[6]. Lucha performed in various acts, living on art in a Bohemian style, and produced music favored by the military nationalist government, who encouraged the diffusion of the Peruvian cultural expressions through mass media[6].

In 1970, helped by Nilo Marchand, manager of the record label FTA (Fabricantes Te'cnicos Asociados), Reyes recorded her greatest success, "Regresa" ("Come Back") of Augusto Polo Campos, a number one hit internationally. On the success of "Regresa" Reyes recorded her first LP and, soon after, began her only international tour[6].