A Mexican singer, who gained fame in the 90s after defending himself during a performance when shots were fired at him, passed away just hours after receiving a note from the audience.
While Chalino Sanchez might not be a household name, many have likely seen the viral video where he is seen onstage reading a note, wiping his forehead, and continuing with his performance.
Sanchez was celebrated as the king of narcocorridos, a traditional Mexican ballad that narrates the tales of drug trafficking activities.
Although the genre originated in the early 1900s, it has seen a surge in popularity along the Mexican/US border in recent times.
Among the current prominent figures in this genre is Gerardo Ortiz, a Californian of Mexican heritage, known for his song ‘In Preparation’, which pays tribute to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel leader Manuel Torres Felix.
“If you aren’t good at killing, then you’re good at dying,” Ortiz sings, referring to Felix, known as M1 or ‘the crazy one’, who died in a confrontation with Mexican soldiers in 2012.
While Ortiz has achieved recent success in the narcocorridos genre, it was Chalino Sanchez who truly made it his own.
Watch the eerie footage along with its context here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMNBjH–74w
Sanchez was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, a city in northwest Mexico. At the age of 15, he reportedly killed the man who assaulted his sister.
Two years later, he moved to the United States to evade the authorities and settled with his aunt in a Los Angeles neighborhood in 1984.
During this period, Sanchez was jailed for minor offenses, and it was during his incarceration that he began composing ballads.
Upon his release, he met Chilean singer-songwriter Ángel Parra, who assisted him in producing his music.
In 1992, Sanchez survived an assassination attempt during a concert at the Plaza Los Arcos nightclub in Coachella, California.
Always armed during performances, Sanchez shot back at assailants Eduardo Gallegos and Claudio Rene Carranza, who were sent to kill him.
One of Sanchez’s bullets hit a major artery in Carranza, leading to his death from blood loss. Gallegos was apprehended and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Just four months later, during a performance in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Sanchez received a ‘death note’.
Though the note’s contents have never been officially disclosed, it is believed to have been a warning from a rival gang member, possibly saying ‘we told you not to come back’.
After leaving the venue, Salón Bugambilias, Sanchez was reportedly stopped by men posing as Mexican police, informing him that their general wanted to see him.
His body was discovered the following day with two gunshot wounds to the back of the head, wrists showing signs of being tied, and his eyes covered.