Lila Downs
Pop Singer
Mexican traditional and pop musician. She was recognized for her first commercially successful album, La Sandunga, from 1999.
She started her career by singing with mariachis while she was still young.
She translated a death certificate for a man while working at a store in the Mixtec mountains. She discovered the certificate was for the man's son who had drowned trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. She often referenced this incident as inspiring her work.
She and her partner Paul Cohen adopted a child together in 2010 named Benito Dxuladi.
She worked alongside Shawn Ashmore while acting in the film Mariachi Gringo from 2012.