Tejano music, also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and American influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico.
Jennifer Marcella Peña is a Grammy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards nominated Mexican American Tejano/Latin pop singer known as "The Princess of Tejano". Peña reached a milestone in her career of over 3.5 million records sold internationally. Peña was born in San Antonio, Texas, and is the third and youngest daughter of Jaime and Mary Peña with other sisters Janet and Jackie. Peña is of Mexican descent native to the state of Texas.
Intocable is an American band from Zapata, Texas that plays regional Mexican music; specializing in norteño and tejano music. It was started by friends Ricardo Javier Muñoz and René Orlando Martínez in the early 1990s. In a few years, Intocable fused the genres Tejano and Norteño with a musical signature that fused Tejano's robust conjunto and Norteño folk rhythms with a pop balladry. Intocable is perhaps the most influential group in Tejano and their Tejano/Norteño fusion has become the blueprint for several Tejano bands. The group's style combines romantic, hooky melodies, tight instrumentation and vocal harmony.
The Tejano Music Awards (TMA) is an accolade created by former arts teacher and musician Rudy Trevino in 1980. The accolade recognizes outstanding performers of Tejano music, a German polka-based Latin music genre recorded in Spanish or English-language. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by Tejano artists and bands and the presentation of all awards. The Tejano Music Awards are annually presented in San Antonio, Texas, although the ceremony has been presented in other cities such as Eagle Pass, Texas in the past.
The 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Thursday, November 11, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the third time the annual event had taken place at this location. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated was July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Nominations were announced on September 8, 2010. On September 14, 2010, it was announced that the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honoree would be Plácido Domingo. The big winners of the night were Camila, Juan Luis Guerra and Gustavo Cerati with three awards.
The Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year is an honor presented to female Tejano music recording artists. The Tejano Music Awards, first bestowed in 1981, was established to recognize the most talented performers of the genre—a subcategory of regional Mexican music, with roots in the music of early European settlers in Texas. The awards are presented by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA), to "promote excellence in the Tejano music industry" using the popular vote method to select the winner of the female vocalist of the year. Historically, female musicians fared less favorably in the male-dominated genre and were seen as inferior to their male counterparts. The award was established by Rick Trevino, a male Tejano performer, who founded the Awards in 1981.
Michelle Yvette Lares, best known as Shelly Lares, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and percussionist. Starting in 1984, Lares was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year for thirteen consecutive years and won several other awards at the Tejano Music Awards throughout her career. She signed a recording contract with Manny Records in 1986. She left the label in 1996, and signed with Sony Music Latin until she was dropped in the late 1990s. In 2006, she signed a recording contract with Tejas Records.
Audi Castillon Portales, known by her stage name Audi Y Zentimiento, is an American singer-songwriter. Starting in the early 2000s, Castillon was nominated for Tejano Music Awards for Best New Female Artist and Best New Group. She was also nominated for Tejano Globe Awards for Best New Female Artist, Best Online Popularity and Best New Group. She then started her own Record Company Audi Y Audi LLC. She has performed at multiple venues as an artist in, Nebraska, Texas, and Colorado.
Las 3 Divas is the debut and sole studio album by American Tejano trio Las 3 Divas. The album was released in September 2005 by Tejas Records. Las 3 Divas is a commercial collaboration between female Tejano stars Elida Reyna, Shelly Lares, and Stefani Montiel. This album earned rave reviews, plenty of radio airtime and critical acclaim even winning "Show Band of The Year". This album spawned the hit "La Cumbia Del Oeste". This album is the only time these three performers have collaborated because each has successful solo careers. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album.
The Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea is an all-female mariachi band based in Los Angeles, California. The band was founded in 1999 by Cindy Shea. In 2009, they became the first all-female mariachi band ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award, and the first to win one. As of 2016, the band has been nominated for seven Grammy awards, winning twice. They are the official mariachi band of the Disneyland resort. In May 2014, they headlined the opening of a new dinner theater in Anaheim, California dedicated exclusively to mariachi music.
The Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of The Year is an honor presented annually by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA). The Tejano Music Awards were first awarded in 1981 and was established to recognize the most talented performers of Tejano music—a subgenre of regional Mexican music. The nominees were originally selected by a voting poll conducted among program directors and disc jockeys of Spanish-language radio stations in Texas. Originally, winners were chosen by Tejano radio station KIWW listeners, and later by fans of Tejano musicians in the Southwest of the United States. Winners are selected through a survey of 50,000 Texas households with Hispanic surnames. By 1987, the award ceremony was broadcast through 32 radio stations and 25 local television channels in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The awards ceremony were originally held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, then to the San Antonio Convention Center until 1994, and the Alamodome until 1999. As of 2015, the ceremony is held annually at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas.
The Tejano Music Award for Male Entertainer of the Year is an honor presented annually by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA). The Tejano Music Awards were first awarded in 1981 and was established to recognize the most talented performers of Tejano music—a subgenre of regional Mexican music. The nominees were originally selected by a voting poll conducted among program directors and disc jockeys of Spanish-language radio stations in Texas. Originally, winners were chosen by Tejano radio station KIWW listeners, and later by fans of Tejano musicians in the Southwest of the United States. Winners are selected through a survey of 50,000 Texas households with Hispanic surnames. By 1987, the award ceremony was broadcast through 32 radio stations and 25 local television channels in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The awards ceremony were originally held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, then to the San Antonio Convention Center until 1994, and the Alamodome until 1999. As of 2015, the ceremony is held annually at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2016 Tejano Music Awards was held on November 12, 2016, at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas. The deadline for nominations for the various Tejano Music Awards categories by the artists' representative are due by June 19, 2016. Nominations will then be announced at a later date for public voting. The annual 2016 Tejano Fan Fair was held at the Historic Market Square in San Antonio from March 17–20, 2016.
The Tejano Music Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Tejano Music Awards, whose mission is to recognize the most talented performers of the genre. Songs nominated for the category are also eligible to be nominated for Single of the Year, and genre-specific categories Tejano Crossover, Mexican Regional Song, and Tejano Country Song of the Year. The only English-language recording to have won the award was "Oh Girl" by La Mafia in 1983, which was included on Honey, which also won Album of the Year.
Lisa Lopez is a Tejano music singer who had a United States Billboard Regional Mexican Airplay number one single with "Si Quieres Verme Llorar" (1982) on the Hacienda Record label and produced by Rick Garcia. Lopez's core audience was targeted towards Mexicans, and became the first female Tejano singer to appear on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in October 1981. Historically, female musicians were commercially less successful than male performers. Lopez became a successful female Tejano singer before the genre's 1990s golden age, and was among the seven female singers who became popular artists; including Chavela Ortiz, Patsy Torres, Laura Canales, Shelly Lares, Elsa García, and Selena.
The Tejano Music Award for Entertainer of the Year is an honor presented annually by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA). The honor was presented to Tejano music musicians beginning at the 27th Tejano Music Awards after merging the Female Entertainer of the Year and Male Entertainer of the Year categories. The most awarded musician is Elida Reyna who received three wins, while Jay Perez and Jesse Turner have tied with most wins by a male.
The Tejano Music Award for Tejano Album of the Year is an honor presented annually by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA). The award was first presented at the 23rd Tejano Music Awards (TMA) and was not given out at the 24th and 29th awards ceremony. Previously, musicians who predominantly record Tejano recordings were nominated for either the Tejano Music Award for Best Conjunto Album, Orchestra Album of the Year, Album of the Year – Traditional, or Album of the Year – Progressive, depending on their style of music: conjunto, cumbia, pop ballads, or polka music. Since the genre's popularity faded after the mid-1990s, the TMAs either merged or retired the over-categorization of their album-of-the-year categories through the 2000s decade. The record and current holder of the award is Elida Reyna, who won four non-consecutive times. The Tejano Music Award for Tejano Urban Album of the Year was a subcategory of the award and included nominations from musicians who recorded urbanized Tejano recordings; this was awarded to musicians at the 25th and 26th awards ceremony. No artist won twice, though DJ Kane remains the only musician to have been nominated twice for the award.
The Tejano Music Award for Album of the Year – Conjunto is an honor presented annually by the Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA). Musicians nominated for this category are performers of the conjunto style of Tejano music.
Stefani Melissa Sullivan, professionally known as Stefani Montiel is a Tejano music singer. In the early 1990s, she emerged as one of the new acts in Tejano who reinvigorated the genre. Montiel is known for her fusion of various genres into her Tejano sound. The singer has been inducted into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame and New Mexico Music Hall of Fame, and has been nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album. In 2006, as part of Las 3 Divas with Shelly Lares and Elida Reyna, Montiel received a nomination for a Grammy Award. Her husband and musician, Gabriel Zavala, produces her music. Montiel released her first album at the age of nine before signing with EMI Latin and then with Sony Discos. She is considered to be one of the most popular Tejano singers. Montiel performed at the inaugural Fiesta de la Flor in 2015. She received the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year, Female Entertainer of the Year, while her album, La Dueña, received the Tejano Music Award for Tejano Album of the Year at the 2017 Tejano Music Awards. Montiel has been nominated for the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Amor Supernatural, Song of the Year for "La Comadre", while her collaboration with DJ Kane and Zavala on "Sol, Arena, Ron Y Mar", was nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year at the 2019 Tejano Music Awards. Her collaboration with La Calma on "Echame La Culpa", peaked at number one on the Tejano Gold Top 20 chart. In 2020, Montiel partnered with Música Ford to bring awareness to Tejano music and its culture, becoming the first Tejano woman to partner with Ford. Her song, "Quedate Con El", received the nomination for Song of the Year at the 2022 Tejano Music Awards.
The 43rd Annual Tejano Music Awards ceremony was held on October 21, 2023, at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. Those who performed at the ceremony were Siggno, Ricardo Castillon, Isabel Marie, Angelica Y Moneda, Grupo Asalto, Suenatron, and Paula DeAnda.
