Rocío Dúrcal ([roˈθi.o ˈðurkal]; 4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), born as María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz, was a Spanish singer and actress. She was called the "Queen of Ranchera".

Rocío Dúrcal died in 2006 from uterine cancer. A year before her death (2005) she received a Latin Grammy Award for musical excellence, a prize that is awarded by the Governing Board of the Recording Latin Academy to artists who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance during their careers.

Biography

Dúrcal was born in the working class district of Cuatro Caminos in Madrid, Spain. She was the daughter of Tomás de las Heras and María Ortiz. She was involved in many of the domestic chores, and helped in raising her younger siblings, and thus missed classes at school.

Ever since she had begun primary school, she always wished for a career as an actress, a fact which remained known only to her for a time. Meanwhile, at school recess, the future artist had her first audience with her classmates, who asked her to sing. Later her presence in school as a singer became common. Although her parents supported her talent, they did not want it to become her career. After completing primary education, she worked as an apprentice hairdresser in her neighborhood.

She began her artistic career by participating in various festivals and radio song competitions, which was secretly supported by her paternal grandfather who always believed in her talent and was her first fan. At 15 years old (1959), with the approval of her parents, she participated in a television program. She sang a traditional song "La Sombra Vendo". But near the TV station in which she performed, Luis Sanz, a "talent seeker" of Madrid, who saw the program, was impressed by her talent and personality, so much so that Sanz had contacted the program to request the name and address of the young contestant. The conversation between Luis Sanz, who was already representative of several famous Spanish artists, and her parents, was decisive for her future. For the first time in her life, the future star spoke of her artistic aspirations and her desire to be represented by Mr. Sanz, who wanted to launch her into stardom.

The parents of María de los Ángeles were at first undecided about what they should do. Within a week, they gave their approval to the employer. While the future artist insisted, her parents feared the failure of their daughter. This, of course, did not occur. Sanz decided that the girl should be placed in the care of private tutors to complete her secondary education and begin singing, dancing and acting. All this happened, ensuring that future Rocío Dúrcal did not lose her personality, which delighted the employer. During this time Sanz arranged various social events with the famous artists of his time and even some beginners in the art such as Raphael and the now deceased and contemporary, Rocío Jurado, and famous at the time Camilo Sesto, who became a good friend.

Her name would be inappropriate to launch her into stardom, and so Sanz decided to call her Rocío. In a television interview before her death Rocío said that nickname was given to her by her grandfather. This, Sanz must have picked the name of that family tradition. But, thinking that she would need a "last name", she looked at a map of Spain, she drew at random, the municipality of smaller villa Dúrcal, in the province of Granada so impossible for the smaller city-ville. Finally her name was born, Rocío Dúrcal, which won its way into posterity. Later, she was declared Adoptive Daughter of this town and a street was named in her honor. There is currently a project to create a museum about the artist, on February 14, 2009, in the town of Dúrcal, a statue in her honor was unveiled, a shared project between her husband, the singer Antonio "Junior" Morales, and the council of that village. At the age of 17 she was offered a role in Canción de Juventud. After acting in several films she married Filipino singer Antonio Morales (a.k.a. Júnior), a member of the Pop group Los Brincos. In 1975, after having two of her three children, she retired from the film industry and in 1977 re-launched her singing career. Dúrcal recorded the first of several albums of Mexican ranchera music produced by Juan Gabriel which sold millions of records in Spain, the U.S., Mexico and the rest of Latin America. She then recorded a Mexican music album with Marco Antonio Solís with similar success. By then her youngest child, Shaila, had been born (in 1979); she too would grow up to become a singer.