One of the most famous Mexican songs of all time is "La Bamba," which goes back several centuries.
It was popularized in the United States in the 1950s by Richie Valens and then by Los Lobos in the 1980s. Sung completely in Spanish, it became an international hit by both American acts. Other well-known standards covered by many Latin artists the past century include "Besame Mucho," "Maria Bonita," and "La Raspa" more widely known in the U.S. as the Mexican hat dance. Popular contemporary artists have included Luis Miguel, Ana Gabriel, Juan Gabriel and Paulina Rubio.
The dominant traditional type of music in Mexico is played by Mariachi bands, usually comprised of at least six members which started in the 19th century around Guadalajara and played mainly at weddings. Mariachi music features violins, guitars and trumpets. Nowadays, they play in festivals or at Mexican restaurants. It is also common for three-piece bands, called trios, to play these venues. The lyrics of Mariachi songs range from personal to political and much of their sound is now known as the Ranchero style. The Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, formed in 1897, is considered the best.
Mexican music has incorporated styles that originated in other countries from Latin America and Europe. Ranchera music incorporates waltz and bolero and traces back to before the Mexican Revolution. It is closely associated with rural music. Banda music, with its brass and percussion highlights, was influenced mainly by the German and Czech immigrants who arrived in Mexico in the late 1800s. Music that originated elsewhere in South America has had with a great impact on Mexican music and includes cumbia from Colombia, merengue from the Dominican Republic, salsa and mambo from Cuba and reggaeton from Panama. In recent decades merengue and salsa have been very popular on the dance floor.
Mexican radio formats grew dramatically in popularity in the 1990s and 2000s in the United States. The leading music format for the Hispanic audience is "Regional Mexican." This format plays the more traditional Mexican genres such as banda, ranchera, mariachi and nortena. Other radio formats include romantica (love songs), Tejana (Tex Mex) and Tropical, which features salsa, merengue, cumbia and reggaeton. Tejano music centers on Hispanic artists from Texas whose music has a Louisiana cajun flavor. Radio chains that specialize in Hispanic programming include Univision and Entravision.
Spanish is the dominant language in Mexico but the government still recognizes more than 60 other native American languages. About 90 percent of the citizens identify themselves as Roman Catholics, which was the gospel brought to Mexico by missionaries from Spain. While many Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5) as Mexico's independence from Spain, September 16th is when Mexico officially celebrate its independence. The Christmas holiday season involves a series of celebrations throughout December starting on the 12th with a celebration honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe, Posadas, Christmas Eve and extending into January 6th with Three Kings Day.
Many popular and traditional dances of Mexico involve couples performing in colorful costumes. A popular folk dance from Jalisco is jarabe. It is a flirtatious dance among couples in which the male tosses his sombrero to the ground and the female dances around its edges. One form of jarabe is the Mexican hat dance. Danza del Venado, also known as dance of the deer tells a Yaqui indian story about a lone male deer and its soul.
The cuisine from northern Mexico with its traditional ingredients of corn, beans, rice, tomatoes, chicken, beef and pork is very popular in the United States and around the world. The best known dishes such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tortillas, quesadillas, tostadas and tamales are but a small part of Mexican cuisine. Indigenous ingredients, techniques and sauces have been mixing with traditional food from Spain since the 1500s and because Mexico was briefly controlled by France in the 1860s, certain dishes such as chiles en nogada have French roots. Slightly carbonated fruit juices such as those marketed as Jarritos by Novamex are popular.