Chavela Vargas is a Mexican-Costa Rican singer born Isabel Vargas Lizano in San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica on April 17, 1919. She is known for her rendition of rancheras, a folkloric musical form widely popular in Mexico, as well as for other popular Latin American song genres. In her youth, she dressed as a man, smoked cigars, drank heavily, carried a gun and was known for her characteristic red poncho, which she still dons in performances.

Vargas has been an influential interpreter in the Americas and Europe, muse to figures such as Pedro Almodovar, hailed for her haunting performances, and called "la voz aspera de la ternura", the bitter voice of tenderness. At 81 years old, she openly admitted she was a lesbian.