Los Tigres del Norte

Los Tigres del Norte are hands-down one of the most important norteño groups of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They helped create the template for modern corridos (traditional Mexican folk songs) by taking up the reality of Mexico’s drug trade while also describing, in sometimes heartbreaking detail, the reality of the immigrant experience in America. This has made them a deeply beloved act both north and south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Formed in Rosa Morado, Sinaloa, in 1968 by singer and accordionist Jorge Hernández—who was just 14 years old at the time—the group consisted originally of his younger brothers Raúl and Hernán and their cousin Óscar Lara. They played local restaurants in Los Mochis and in the border city of Mexicali before receiving an invitation to perform in San Jose, California, for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The trip would change their lives—giving them their name (after an immigration official at the border called them “little tigers”) and bringing them to the attention of Arthur Walker of Discos Fama, their first label (they moved to Fonovisa in the ’80s). In 1972 they had their first major hit with “Contrabando y Traición”, an early narcocorrido about a pair of marijuana smugglers. Myriad hits followed, including 1975’s “La Banda del Carro Rojo” (one of many songs that inspired the burgeoning narco-cinema genre), as well as songs of love and betrayal and laments about life north of the border. On their 2014 album Realidades, they even included norteño’s first-ever gay love song with “Era Diferente”, a move that won them widespread plaudits. Known for epic concerts that can last up to 12 hours, they’ve gone through numerous lineup changes but remain a family business and a vital musical force.