This cover interview originally appeared in She Shreds Magazine Issue #19, released December 2019.

María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, otherwise known as Charo, otherwise known as la Cuchi Cuchi, is many things. Many of us recognize her as a hilarious TV personality who has captured the hearts of millions around the world, performing on The Today Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and countless others since the ‘60s. Charo is an award-winning flamenco guitarist who studied under one of the most prestigious classical guitarists of the century, Andrés Segovia, and has gone on to gain wide recognition for her platinum selling album, Guitar Passion.

However, the entertaining, fun loving, and passionate musician is only half of who Charo is. As much as she may be a product of the entertainment business, she is also a lover of human, animal, and environmental rights. Among other incredible accomplishments, Charo is a member of PETA, and the recipient of the 2014 Ricardo Montalban Lifetime Achievement ALMA Award, awarded by The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Charo is also a mother, a wife, and simply put: music is her life. The truth is that you can’t describe Charo in a paragraph, a sentence, or even a word; she’s a multifaceted character that, much like her age or the details of her upbringing, no one will ever fully get to know.

After discussing our current individual locations, debating whether we were going to speak in Spanish, English, or Spanglish, and reveling in her love of the ocean, we went straight into one of Charo’s many essential issues: our interaction with nature.

I can imagine you playing right in front of the ocean, or in the rain with a fire going inside, serenading us with your guitar.

Exactly. Nature is beautiful. I mean, we don’t pay attention.

Let me put it this way: we take [nature] for granted. We are living in the right time, according to me. We are in advancements in technology, and we have not yet to match it in nature, in the air, in the rain. When I’m happy and want to write some music, I listen to the sound of the wind. When [I’m] living in Hawaii, [I] just have to sit down and—not meditating—just be quiet and listen to the sound of the rain or the wind blowing the trees, bringing beautiful melodies. Seriously, I highly recommend if you have the opportunity, visit the island of Kawaii. You’re there along with the nature, mano a mano.

But I like also noise. So I’m very confused. I don’t mind if you write that down—I’m confused. After two weeks in nature, I say, “Where is the noise?” [Laughs.]

That’s something that I think people love about you. You’re multifaceted, and you’re not afraid to hide it—it all makes up who Charo is. And so, in terms of the guitar, which part of you comes out when you’re playing guitar?

I love music. It’s in my family. Although they’re all farmers, from both sides, my father and mother, music has been the medicine in my family for centuries. Music is like oxygen. I am lucky to come from family who understood that education is the best will that any parent could give to the children. Music is the dedication and oxygen in my family for generations. They were clever enough to support education for my sister and me just by raking tomatoes, potatoes, and spinach. I am a farmer. I know how to raise all kinds of vegetables and food. So I am two persons, but the main thing is always respecting nature.

Music is saving my life. About seven months ago, my husband passed away in a very tragic way. I am surviving, [but] I will never be the same. I want to talk to children, because what happened to me I hope will never happen to anyone. The love of my life, the man that gave me unconditional love, respect, and support—my biggest fan. He enjoyed every show, applauding, and so proud of me. But unfortunately, [because of] a combination of a perfect storm of education, side effects, and depression, he took his life.

So, why I am surviving: music.

I locked myself in the bedroom for about six or seven weeks, feeling numb. But then, I decided that life is beautiful. I went public to teach other people to take depression very seriously, and the side effects of medication. And I’m using the tragedy in my life to save lives. Music and the performances are saving me. The social media… I never, ever, ever thought that social media was important because I was very cocky and thought if I sold out all of my performances, if I always have the biggest record of selling CDs—but now the amount of downloads [of my music] shows how people need music, and love good music. So, that saved me. It’s my vitamin.

I feel honored to talk to you and tell you that not every day is sunshine, but if you have a good sense of humor you can survive that day. But again, music is the greatest thing that’s happened in my life. [When I was a little girl], all of a sudden a developer decided to take all of the land. Overnight, they took all the land of everybody in an area of Spain—Murica, near Valencia, where I was born—and everybody became homeless. So my life and my sister’s life has been tough, but again, education, the sacrifice of my family, and music saved us.