Lalo Guerrero is internationally recognized as the "Father of Chicano Music." The legendary Mexican-American singer and composer has enjoyed a career of more than six decades beginning with the classic "Cancion Mexicana" composed while still in teens in his native and beloved Tucson, Arizona. It remains the unofficial anthem of Mexico first made famous by the great Lucha Reyes in 1941.

It was the first of hundreds of songs written and recorded by Guerrero throughout an extraordinary career on various labels including Vocalion (1937), Imperial (1946), RCA Victor (1953), EMI Capitol (1962) and his own label, Colonial (1957-'72). His versatility is dazzling, writing and performing music in a myriad of styles unmatched by any artist- boleros, rancheras, mambos, cha-cha, salsa, tejano, comic parodies and even children's recordings with more than 25 albums of the hugely popular, "Las Ardillitas de Lalo Guerrero."

At the height of his recording years in the 1950's and 1960's, his music dominated the Latin American charts in the U.S., Mexico and South America with as many as three hits in the top ten at the same time.

Celebrating his bicultural roots, the music pioneer and activist was the first to write and record bilingual songs and the first to bring American swing to Mexican music. The 1949 "pachuco" swing hits, "Chicas Patas Boogie," became popular again in 1977 when Luis Valdez brought them to the Los Angeles and New York stage in "Zoot Suit" providing the play with it's biggest production numbers.

Enduring melodies like the beautiful bolero "Nunca Jamas" (1956) and the comic songs "Elvis Perez" (1957) and "La Minifalda de Reynalda" (1968), among many others, have become standards with today's top artists still recording Lalo's hits of years ago.

But, his music has done more than just entertain. It has given a voice to his people. Lalo's "corridos" have told of the triumphs and struggles of Mexican-American hereos like Cesar Chavez and Ruben Salazar and brought their stories to wide audience. And he's used his unparalleled humor in songs of social protest like "No Chicanos on TV."

Guerrero, considered a cultural icon to the Chicano, celebrated his 80th birthday on Christmas Eve of 1996, but the years have only added luster to an already distinguished career. In 1993, Paul Rodriguez invited Lalo to co-host his popular talk/variety show, "El Nuevo Show de Paul Rodriguez" which aired nationally on Univision and throughout Mexico and Latin America bringing Lalo a huge new audience.

Los Lobos asked Lalo to join them on the 1995 bilingual children's album, "Papa's Dream" and that collaboration garnered a Grammy Nomination.

And January, 1997 brought Lalo his highest honor to date - the 1996 National Medal of the Arts presented by President and Mrs. Clinton at a White House Ceremony for a lifetime of creative achievement. He considers that event the "pinnacle" of his career.

But, the honors have been many including invitations to both the Carter and Bush White House. In 1980, the Smithsonian Institution declared him a "National Folk Treasure" and he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1991.

He has been inducted into the Tejano Hall of Fame and been honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Mexican Cultural Institute representing the Mexican Government, Luis Valdez' The Teatro Campesino and Ricardo Montalban's Nosotros Organization among other prestigious groups. Los Angeles and his adopted home of Palm Springs, California have declared "Lalo Guerrero Day" in those cities and proclamations have been awarded from numerous other cities and organizations.

Lalo Guerrero was born in the Barrio Viejo of Tucson, Arizona on Christmas Eve, 1916. He was one of twenty-four children with only eight surviving to adulthood. His father's origins were in La Paz, Baja California and his mother was from Santa Ana, Sonor, Mexico. They were married in Cananea, Sonora and moved to Tucson in 1911 where they raised their family and remained the rest of their lives.

Lalo was greatly influenced by his mother, Concepcion, who sang and played the guitar beautifully. She was his first and only music teacher. It was his mother and father, Eduardo, who instilled a great love for Mexico in their your sn, Eduardo, Jr. (Lalo).

Lalo Guerrero has dedicated his life and career to the definition and enrichment of the Chicano experience in America. He has been quoted modestly, "I only wrote and sang about what I was." But, in doing just that, he has become the musical historian of a unique culture, a culture with roots in two worlds.

Fellow Tucsonense Linda Ronstadt puts it best - "Lalo is the first great Chicano musical artist and the historian and social conscience of that community."

This prolific artist continues creating and a recent composition, "Barrio Viejo" - a tribute to his beloved childhood neighborhood - bought a standing ovation of 5000 at the 1996 Tucson International Mariachi Conference where he shared the stage with Linda Ronstadt and Vikki Carr. He repeated that triumph writing a special English-language lyric for the 1998 Alma Awards that aired to a national audience on ABC-TV with Jimmy Smits presenting Lalo with a special award.

Lalo continues to take his music and message to venues across the country including a recent concert at the new Getty Musuem in Los Angeles and enjoying, in particular, performing at colleges and universities like Harvard and ale where a younger generation has adopted Guerrero as their own.

And, earlier this year, Guerrero took his music further, traveling to Europe for the first time where he made his debut at the prestigious Cite do sone la Musique in Paris, France. He was accompanied by his two sons - singer/songwriter Mark Guerrero, who also performed and acted as musical director, and television producer, Dan, who produced the event as part of a three-day Festival of American Music.