Singer, lyricist and composer, Mercedes Simone grew up in La Plata, a city just outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began singing as a child. While working in a print shop as a teen, she met, and eventually married, guitarist and singer Pablo Rodriguez. On the advice of Alfredo Pelaia, a music colleague, Simone’s husband began including her in his shows, which launched her professional career in 1926. Simone went on to record nearly 250 songs on popular record labels and performed extensively in theaters, on radio and throughout Latin America. In 1937, the magazine Sintonía described her songs as “the guts of the people from every place in the country.” #womenshistorymonth