[1] Her accolades include a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic for her contributions to music.

At age 17,[2] she abandoned her native country due to lack of opportunities for a musical career, seeking refuge in Mexico, where an entertainment industry was burgeoning.

[3] In her youth she dressed as a man, smoked cigars, drank heavily, carried a gun, and was known for her characteristic red jorongo, which she wore in performances until old age.

Towards the end of the 1950s, she became known within artistic circles, due in part to her performances in Acapulco, center of international tourism, where she sang at the Champagne Room of the restaurant La Perla.

Her first album, Noche Bohemia (Bohemian Night), was released in 1961 with the professional support of José Alfredo Jiménez, one of the foremost singer/songwriters of Mexican ranchera music.

[6] Vargas was hugely successful during the 1950s, the 1960s, and the first half of the 1970s, touring in Mexico, the United States, France, and Spain[7] and was close to many prominent artists and intellectuals of the time, including Juan Rulfo, Agustín Lara, Frida Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, Dolores Olmedo and Jiménez.

[8] Although her lyrics were addressed to women, Vargas did not publicly come out until the age of 81 in her 2002 autobiography And If You Want to Know about My Past (Y si quieres saber de mi pasado).

[10] Vargas returned to the stage in 1991, performing at a bohemian nightclub called "El Hábito" in Coyoacán, Mexico City.

[10] Vargas debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2003 at age 83[11] at the behest and promotion of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, an admirer and friend.

"[21] Vargas' ability to engage with her sexuality through her music amidst finding success in a traditional country, where there was deep-rooted homophobia and religious fundamentalism, paved the way for LGBTQ artists like Concha Buika and other Latin women artists such as Lila Downs, Eugenia León, La Santa Cecilia, Julieta Venegas, and more.

She naturally challenged structural notions of masculinity through her music and performance, since "she often declined to change the pronouns in love songs written by men from 'she' to 'he.'

[12] On the other hand, her fans recognize her "unsettling, coded, but undeniable connection between her interpretations and her physicality (the unique vocal technique to infuse emotions into the songs, her body in performance) must be turned comfortingly back to the realm of musicianship.

Directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi, the film features Pedro Almodóvar, Elena Benarroch and Miguel Bosé among others.

Hundreds of fans and loved ones gathered in order to honor her legacy where they played her music and drank her favorite drink, tequila.

[28] The film Chavela mentions that after her new found popularity in Spain, she no longer rejected the word “lesbian” despite having previously been offended by the term.

[12] In the film, one of the last statements she makes is that “My song is dedicated to all the women of the world: Mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, friends, and lovers.”[14] A slogan that she lived by and would often tell her fans was “Human beings love, and that’s all that matters.

[33] In 2012, the artist Juan Carlos del Valle presented a series of portraits of Vargas at the Centro Cultural de España en México, Mexico City.