Concha Velasco died this Saturday, December 2, a few days after turning 84, at the Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Majadahonda (Madrid). Her children, Manuel and Paco Martínez, have communicated the news: “We regret to inform that our mother, Concha Velasco, died today, Saturday the 2nd at 02:00 at the Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Majadahonda, having received the Holy Sacraments, consequence of a complication in his illness,” quotes the statement collected by EFE.
The actress and presenter native of Valladolid, who retired from public life in 2021, had been admitted to a nursing home for some time, affected by a delicate state of health.
One of the great figures of Spanish culture, Concha Velasco stood out in the world of cinema, theater and television. Especially remembered are her roles in ‘The Girl from the Red Cross’ (1954) or ‘Teresa de Jesús’ (1984), although it was in the theater where she truly shone as a performer, in productions such as ‘Mom, I want to be an artist.’ ‘ (1986). In 2019, Concha Velasco starred in the staging of her own funeral.
Although Velasco never developed a full career in music, as she did not even consider herself a singer, her song ‘La chica ye-yé’ became one of the great Spanish pop classics of the 60s. Completely inseparable from her figure, ‘La chica ye-yé’ was a song composed by Antonio Guijarro Campoy and Augusto Algueró that the young Conchita Velasco performed for the first time in a scene from the film ‘Television Stories’ (1965), bringing her to fame. The Argentine singer Luis Aguilé recorded it first and, in fact, he was originally going to sing it in the film, but in the end it was Velasco who marked the era with it.
On television, Velasco notably appeared in ‘Personal Reasons’ or ‘Herederos’ and presented various programs, his foray into ‘Cine de barrio’ being one of the most remembered. Alaska took over the baton in 2020.
