Totó la Momposina, Colombian Folk Icon, Dies at 85

Colombian singer Totó la Momposina died Sunday in Celaya, Mexico, at age 85. Born Sonia Bazanta Vides on August 15, 1940, she took her stage name from the Momposina Depression region of Bolívar, Colombia. She spent over six decades preserving and sharing Afro-Indigenous and rural Caribbean rhythms.

Totó la Momposina performed at festivals worldwide and recorded albums including La candela viva and Pacantó. Songs like “El pescador” and “Yo me llamo cumbia” became anthems of Colombian popular music. The Colombian Ministry of Culture notes she enriched traditional Caribbean music and wrote a chapter in Colombia’s cultural history.

Her family reports her remains will be transferred from Mexico to Bogotá on May 27th, with a public memorial at the Capitolio Nacional. Though honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Latino in 2013, the full scope of her influence on contemporary Colombian music remains to be seen.