Chalino Sánchez

Rosalino "Chalino" Sánchez Félix (30 August 1960 – 16 May 1992) was a Mexican singer and composer. Posthumously called "The King of Corrido" (Spanish: El Rey del Corrido), Sánchez is often considered the most influential Mexican narcocorrido singer of the late twentieth century. His songs mostly contained stories of murder and organized crime in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Northern Mexico, including topics such as the Mexican Revolution, drug cartels, drug trafficking, serial killers, Mexican standoffs, and murder–suicides. He also composed and sang romantic and radio-friendly songs.

Sánchez grew up in a poor, violent, rural area of Sinaloa, the youngest of eight children. His father died when Sánchez was six years old. At age 15, Sánchez shot and killed a man who had raped his sister two years prior. In 1984, his brother Armando was murdered in a hotel in Tijuana, inspiring him to compose his first corrido. While serving time in prison for petty crimes, Sánchez composed songs for inmates that had stories they wanted to preserve in sentimental ballads.

On 25 January 1992, Sánchez was shot while performing in Coachella, California, United States, but survived. He fired back in self-defense, killing a bystander. Just a few months later, on May 16, Sánchez was shot and killed by unidentified assailants after a performance in Culiacán, in which he was handed a note commonly believed to have contained a death threat. Though Sánchez's murder remains unsolved, it is suspected to be linked to a Mexican cartel or revenge.