Baccara

Female vocal duo.

Baccara was a Spanish group originally created by Mayte Mateos in partnership with María Mendiola. The group was formed in 1977 and had a very good career until 1981, when they decided to split after María Mendiola felt her voice was not getting the recording recognition it deserved.

Mayte Mateos continued to work as "Baccara", sometimes calling herself "New Baccara" (which had nothing to do with the New Baccara that María Mendiola would later form as she went on her solo career). Mayte Mateos worked with different partners over the years, including Jane Comerford, Gina T. & Marissa Perez (born Maryse Peres). After gaining no success, Mayte Mateos decided to go on a solo career as well.

Soon after, María Mendiola decided to try group singing again, joining with the recently dropped "Baccara" singer, Marissa Perez. María Mendiola's group was named New Baccara to set it apart from Mayte Mateos's disbanded "Baccara". "New Baccara" began to release their own personal material, as well as several re-recordings and re-recording remixes of "Baccara" tracks.

"New Baccara" then dropped the "New", becoming simply "Baccara" but, still staying separate from Mayte Mateos's old one. Soon after, while María Mendiola & Marissa as "Baccara" continued to release tracks, Mayte Mateos formed another duo with Cristina Sevilla, named "Baccara 2000". After releasing an album & several singles (including a re-recording remix of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" called "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie '99"), this "Baccara 2000" dropped the "2000" and also went simply by "Baccara".

In 2004 Mayte Mateos dropped Cristina Sevilla and instead started singing with Paloma Blanco. María Mendiola continued to be the steady partner of Marissa Perez (since leaving Mayte Mateos). Each group has continued to make original tracks, re-recordings, remixes & even re-recordings of remixes. These name-changes on both sides has made it very difficult to tell (both for fans and the record companies themselves) who has recorded what, at any given time.

In June 2021, Scottish DJ George GBX Bowie released a new version of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie for Scottish fans to use as the UEFA Euro 2020 anthem. Yes Sir, I Can Boogie (Paul Keenan Remix), a dance version featuring vocals by María Mendiola and Sevilla, peaked at number 11 on the Official Singles Chart Top 100.

María Mendiola died, aged 69, on 11 September 2021 in Madrid.

Following María Mendiola's death, and at the insistence of fans and the work environment, Cristina Sevilla decided to continue leading the band as a permanent tribute to Mendiola's legacy.