Real name: Beatríz Llamas Lopez

Beatriz Llamas was born in 1936 in Aguascalientes, México. When she was 11, she moved with her mother and sister to Edinburg, Texas, to join her father. In 1951, the Llamas family moved to San Antonio and Llamas entered her first talent contest. While Eva Ybarra (2017 NEA National Heritage Fellow) bested her, she entered another contest and won, beginning her career singing on radio shows, and touring with different musical acts. Llamas gained attention from the owners of Sombrero Records and began recording singles. She worked with KCOR—one the country’s first full-time, Spanish-language radio stations—sharing the stage with Alberto and Arturo López, the latter to whom she later married. In 1995, she was inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame and in 1999 she was inducted into the Tejano Conjunto Hall of Fame.
She passed on May 15, 2023.