During a performance in Fuerteventura, María Mendiola was discovered together with her singing colleague, followed by an amazing career across Europe. The death of the 69-year-old was announced on Friday.
The Spanish singer María Mendiola has died at the age of 69. Mendiola became world famous in the late 1970s when she formed the band “Baccara” with Mayte Mateos. Her singles “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” and “Sorry, I’m a Lady” became number 1 hits across Europe and are still on the radio today.
Mendiola recently appeared under the same name with her new partner Cristina Sevilla. Seville announced the death of their bandmate on the band’s Instagram account on Friday.
“How difficult it is for me to publish this,” writes Sevilla. Mendiola was a wonderful artist for her, but above all a friend. “I cannot find any words. I can only thank you for all the love you have given me and tell you what I have said so many times: I love you.”
So far, nothing is known about the cause of María Mendiola’s death.
María Mendiola was discovered on Fuerteventura
Mendiola was born in Madrid in 1953 and met Mateos at the Spanish television ballet. As flamenco dancers and singers, they founded the duo “Venus” and were discovered in Fuerteventura in 1977 by the record label RCA (now Sony) – the beginning of a Europe-wide career. “Venus” became “Baccara”, the first album of the same name was a huge success. The released single “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” rose to number one in the charts in 18 countries, and in Germany it is one of the best-selling singles of all time. In England, Baccarat was the first Spanish group and the first female singing duo to make it to the top of the charts.
Mendiola and Mateos recorded several other successful songs including “Darling”, “The Devil Sent You to Lorado” and “Ay, Ay Sailor”. In 1978 they performed for Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest and reached seventh place.
After the split there were two “baccarat” duos
After several legal disputes, Mendiola and Mateos broke up in 1982. Both started careers as solo artists, but later founded new singing duos. Under the old name “Baccara”, Mateos teamed up with a former TV ballet colleague, Marisa Pérez. Pérez left the duo after a short time, Mateos found a replacement in the Spanish singer Paloma Blanco. Meanwhile Mendiola founded her own duo and called it “New Baccara”. Her singing partner is also not unknown at this point: Marisa Pérez. Years after the founding, Pérez and Mendiola decided to remove the “New” from their name – since then there have been two vocal duos performing as “Baccarat” in many parts of the world.
After Pérez contracted arthritis in 2008, she was eventually replaced by Cristina Sevilla, who now published the news of the death of her colleague and friend. Mendiola and Sevilla released their last album in 2017 and came to Germany for several appearances.
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