Mexican singer and actress of partial African descent, known for her interpretation of boleros and canciones written by Agustín Lara. Her stage name was Toña la Negra (Toña the Black Woman).
Toña began her career in the 1920s singing tangos as the lead singer of the Trío Peregrino-Uzcanga. In 1932, she travelled to Mexico City and met songwriter and composer Agustín Lara. She first became famous for her interpretation of Lara’s “Enamorada”, as well as “Lamento jarocho”, written specially for her to sing. She later popularized “Noche criolla”, “Veracruz”, and other Lara compositions associated with her home state. She first recorded these songs and many others for Peerless Records in the 1940s.
She began to record for the RCA Victor label in the late 1940s. In February 1953, her single “Como golondrinas” peaked at number 2 on Cashbox’s Mexico’s Top Ten Tunes chart. She went on to record numerous hit singles and also several studio albums, including Caleidoscopio musical con Toña la Negra (1958), Noche criolla, vol. II (1961), and La sensación jarocha, vol. III (1964).
In the mid-1960s, she signed a contract with the Orfeón label and recorded more studio albums. She recorded two songs with the Sonora Matancera in 1974.
On 17 November 1982, she was admitted to a hospital in Mexico City because of cardiovascular problems. On 19 November, at the age of 70, Toña la Negra died of a heart attack.
Link to Wikipedia biography