Woman Forbidden to Sing as a Child Wins Latin Grammy at 95 After Grandson Records Her Songs

Woman Forbidden to Sing as a Child Wins Latin Grammy at 95 After Grandson Records Her Songs
RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images
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A 95-year-old Cuban-American grandmother has won best new artist at the Latin Grammy Awards after being forbidden to pursue music as a child. She is the oldest musician ever to be nominated in this category. In her speech, the nonagenarian thanked her grandson, a composer, who recorded her voice, which earned her the stardom she has long deserved.

Singer-songwriter Angela Alvarez tied for the best new artist in the 2022 Latin Grammys on Nov. 17, alongside artist Silvana Estrada.

Cuban-US singer Angela Alvarez accepts the award for Best New Artist on stage during the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards at the Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 17, 2022. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
Cuban-US singer Angela Alvarez accepts the award for Best New Artist on stage during the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards at the Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 17, 2022. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
Angela said in her award speech, “My grandson was the one who helped me get to where I am now ... I want to dedicate this award to God and my homeland, Cuba, [which] I will never forget,” as translated from Spanish.
Angela’s grandson, composer Carlos José Alvarez, wrote in a Facebook post that recording his grandmother’s album was one of the most “unforgettable and magical experiences” of his life. It also got family and friends together.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Angela’s love for music began in Cuba, where she was born and raised. She began writing her own songs as early as her teens, but her traditional father forbade her to pursue her dream of singing and songwriting professionally, according to Today.

She later got married and had a family of her own. After the Cuban Revolution, Angela made the decision to send her four children with the 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children that went to the United States in 1962 to flee the communist oppression. Angela was eventually able to join them, and her family later settled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

However, during those years her love for music never left her side. It became a crutch during the painful years separated from her children, a comfort after the loss of her husband and daughter to cancer, and a blessing when building a new life in America. Angela always played for her children and grandchildren, until Carlos decided his grandmother deserved to shine brighter.

Angela Alvarez arrives for the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy awards at the Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 17, 2022. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
Angela Alvarez arrives for the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy awards at the Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 17, 2022. RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images

“Every chance she had to grab a guitar, she was singing to us,” Carlos, 42, said. “One day, I called her up and I said, ‘I want you to sing me the songs that you compose.’ She walks out of a room with these notebooks that was, like, more than 40 songs, and the songs were like a diary of her life.”

In 2016, a friend asked Carlos what he was waiting for, and that is when he realized the time had come to record his grandmother’s music from his home in Los Angeles. In doing so, actor and producer Andy Garcia got wind of Angela’s story and was moved enough to produce a feature-length documentary on her life, “Miss Angela,” which was released in 2021.

(RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images
The Latin Grammys win in November was a big moment for Angela. Carlos shared the family’s collective joy on Facebook, writing, “Our dreams have the power to transform and heal lives, if not the world.” He thanked the Academy for lending the stage to share his grandmother’s “incredible moment,” signing off, “Our hearts are full.”
Despite the austerity of her youth, Angela believes her father, and her late husband would approve of her success. “If they were here, I know they'd be proud,” she said.
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