| Chayito Valdez | |
| Birth Name: | María del Rosario Valdez Campos |
| Birth Date: | 28 May 1945 |
| Birth Place: | Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico |
| Death Date: | 20 June 2016 (aged 71) |
| Death Place: | Coronado, California, United States |
María del Rosario Valdez Campos (28 May 1945 – 20 June 2016), known professionally as Chayito Valdez, was a Mexican singer and actress[1] who was born in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. She was associated with and contributed to the folk music of Mexico.
Valdez started her music career at an early age participating in amateur competitions with songs such as "La Cigarra", "Historia de un amor", "La Bikina", and "Leña de Pirul". Her godmother was Amalia Mendoza, a successful singer known as "La Tariácuri", and in the early 1970s, she recorded four songs the Sinaloan city of Los Mochis: "Besos y Copas", "Una Noche me Embriagué", "Una Sombra", and "Amor que Muere", which earned her a reputation as a Mexican folk singer. She won the fifth Festival de la Canción Ranchera with the song "No me pregunten por él".
Valdez moved to Los Angeles, California in 1982 and became a US citizen. On September 17, 1985, she suffered an automobile accident that left her in a wheelchair, but after a long recovery began making public appearances again. In June 2003 she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma for 50 days. Her last show was in Nogales, Sonora. She spent her last days in a persistent vegetative state in a hospital in Coronado, California.
During her 30-year career, Valdez contributed over 300 hits and 1500 recorded songs to the Mexican musical heritage. Her musical legacy includes the following:
Valdez appeared in Mexican television programs such as: