Shelly Lares | Courtesy photo
With the release of her albumLMD82today, longtime Tejano music vocalistShelly Laresannounced that once her LMD82 Legacy Tour in 2021-2022 is over, she will officially retire from the Tejano music industry to pursue other interests, namely a career in nursing.
Lares, who started recording professionally at the age of 10, spoke in a videoposted today on her Facebook fan pageabout the release ofLMD82, which stands for her moniker, “Little Miss Dynamite,” and for 1982, the year her career began.
“I am just shy of 40 years in Tejano music,” Lares said. “This here will be the very last Tejano CD that I will be recording.”
Once her promotional tour for “LMD82” ends in 2022, Lares, who said she is just shy of her 50th birthday, will officially retire.
“The LMD Legacy tour that I have been announcing will run from 2021 into 2022, and after 2022, I will be retiring from the road,” she said.
Lares added she hopes to pursue other interests such as mentoring other artists, signing artists to her Shellshock Records 3 label, and attend nursing school, a longtime dream of hers.
“I have other life aspirations outside of Tejano music,” Lares said. “That is nursing. I have prayed on this decision for five years.”
Despite people telling her that she can pursue her nursing dreams and still do music, Lares said she knows this isn’t possible and that she wants to completely devote herself to this new venture.
“I’m the type of person that whenever I take something on, I take it on 150 percent,” Lares said. “I know that there’s no way I’ll be able to go through nursing school, shift my life into a completely different profession, and still be on the road.”
Lares said that in addition to the gift of music, God has blessed her with compassion, empathy and nurturing and she wants to put those gifts to use.
“I just feel like there’s something out there for me that is bigger than life,” Lares said. “And that is helping another life. And that is what I want to do.”
Lares also said that she has always wanted to retire and go out on her own terms after she made a name for herself as she has.
“I said that once I made the decision to retire that it was going to be wholeheartedly without any hesitations, without any regrets, but most importantly, on my terms and when I was ready and still loving my industry, which I do and probably will until my last breath,” Lares said.
Lares urged the public to keep supporting Tejano music and she spoke about her career as well.
“When I started as a little girl in 1982, I fell in love with Tejano music,” Lares said. “It came to me because God sent it to me. And I set out to make a name for myself and build a legacy for myself in the Tejano music industry. I worked very hard for many, many years, paid many, many dues, had many, many struggles, but had many, many triumphs as well.”
Lares reminded fans that she’s not leaving today and that she will still be active in promotions and her LMD82 Legacy tour. She thanked her supporters, too, and said that she has thanked many people in her album notes. She urged fans to visit her website atshellylares.onlineto purchase her final CD.
“Please know that I have always appreciated and will always appreciate everything that has been part of my career,” she said. “Musicians, producers, promoters, radio, media, fans, photographers, videographers, road crews, all of that…I love Tejano music so much. It doesn’t mean that I’m abandoning it at all.”
Lares added the music will always be in her heart and that she hopes her fans will bless her on her new journey.
“Thank you guys for 40 years of amazing support,” she said.
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