Chalino Sanchez: the unsolved assassination of the corrido star
Songs from the genre of corrido are all about storytelling. The traditional Mexican standard often tackles highly emotive topics: oppression, love, death, and crime, and after living a storied life of violence, Chalino Sanchez was dubbed ‘El Rey del Corrido’. Sanchez had a major hand in popularising the genre, immortalising its high drama in an almost unbelievable series of events before his own death.
The stories associated with Sanchez made him a legend, an outlaw-type figure who had seemingly no fear but could belt out a romantic ballad when he needed to. Several tragedies beset him throughout his life, but often, stories surrounding Sanchez are borderline unverifiable, clouded by his violent reputation. One of the most widespread is that after his sister was raped, he allegedly avenged her by killing the attacker, which led to him fleeing to the United States.
After working a string of manual jobs, Sanchez was introduced to producer Angel Parra at the tail end of the 1980s, and Parra helped him record his first cassette alongside Los Cuatro de la Frontera. He was widely considered the first singer bold enough to sing about the realities of life in Mexico at the time, which made his songs hugely successful. That a shootout at one of his shows might have boosted sales was neither here nor there.
When performing in California in 1992, a disgruntled fan became enraged Sanchez hadn’t played ‘El gallo de Sinaloa’ and pulled out a pistol and fired it. Sanchez, who made a habit of going on stage armed, shot back, and the ensuing trade of bullets killed another audience member, hospitalised Sanchez, and saw the initial shooter sent behind bars. Strangely, his audiences only grew after that moment, and Parra recalled that during the first recording they’d made together, only 300 copies were made. After the news of the show’s shootout spread, that number shot to 31,000.
After enjoying a few months of fame in the US, Sanchez returned to his hometown to perform in what would be his final concert. He took to Bugambilias Hall and was handed what is suspected to be a death threat at some point during the set. There’s a momentary pause as he takes in the news, only four months after the California incident had rocked him. He simply wipes his forehead and continues on with ‘Soul in Love’ as if nothing had happened.
The widely-circulated videos of that moment made him an eternal legend, one more concerned with finishing his set than the very genuine threat to his life. In 1992, the morning after that fateful show, he was found lying on a road with two bullet holes in his head. The reason for the murder and the contents of the note will forever be shrouded in mystery – but Sanchez remains a cult hero who introduced scores of audiences to Latin music.
