Mercedes Sosa recorded the song Gracias A la Vida (Thanks to Life) in 1971, and this song became one of her signature songs is even if she recorded 40 albums throughout her musical career because this song has been sung by prisoners, poor people, revolutionaries, rebels, and women for many years and has become an anthem.

“I was born to sing, singing is my most favorite,” said Mercedes Sosa, who was born on 9 July 1935, in San Miguel de Tucumán. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months. After the military junta of Jorge Videla came to power in 1976, the atmosphere in Argentina grew increasingly oppressive. Sosa faced death threats against both her and her family but refused for many years to leave the country. At a concert in La Plata in 1979, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage, along with all those attending the concert. She was released but banned in her own country, she moved to Paris and then to Madrid. Sosa returned to Argentina from her exile in Europe in 1982, several months before the military regime collapsed as a result of the Falklands War. She was a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean. She died from multiple organ failure on 4 October 2009. Let’s listen to her song “A la Vida”… Thanks to Life.