Unfamiliar to most Americans on a broad scale, Lhasa was a star in Canada and much of Europe, by absorbing and exhibiting such diverse genres such as Gypsy music and flamenco, Mexican rancheras, Americana and jazz, Portuguese fado, Middle Eastern pop songs, Russian lullabies, chanson française, and South American folk melodies into her own unique and remarkable work. Over a thirteen-year recording career, she made just three albums: the first was in Spanish; the second, in Spanish, French, and English; and the last, exclusively in English.
Also known by the mononym Lhasa, she has toured with the likes Lilith Fair, and done duets with The Tindersticks. Lhasa’s songs convey feeling before the meaning is fully grasped. BBC Radio 3 honored her as the best world music artist of the Americas in 2005. Sadly, Lhasa had only recorded three albums when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. After 21 months of treatment, she died on New Year’s Day 2010.
Photo via Literary Hub