Valentín Elizalde Essentials

A member of the eerie club of stars who died at age 27, banda singer Valentín Elizalde achieved posthumous fame for narcocorridos celebrating the Mexican state of Sinaloa's infamous Zeta cartel. Backed by the brassy and danceable Banda Guesaveña, Elizalde sang about life and love in a melancholy and mature voice that conveyed his working-class audience's joys and struggles. He released his solo debut, Regresan los Mafiosos (The Mafiosi Return), in 1999. "A Mis Enemigos" (To My Enemies), a paean to the Zetas' power, became a hit in 2007 after perhaps provoking his murder a year earlier.