Public wake for singer Carlos Parra pulls at emotions for fans, family

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Mourners gathered early Wednesday evening at a west Phoenix reception hall to remember regional Mexican music group Los Parras’ lead singer, Carlos Parra.

The 26-year-old performer, whose family band was based in Phoenix, died over the weekend in a car crash near Hermosillo, Sonora, on a drive to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, a person close to the family said to The Arizona Republic.

The band was started by the Sinaloa-born Parra and his two brothers when the vocalist was a student at North High School in Phoenix. His twin, César Parra, was on guitar and their older brother, Cristhian Parra, was on the accordion.

Family, friends and fans assembled at Carlos' wake, held at the Legends Event Center at 43rd Avenue and West Camelback Road, and shared that he was a jovial and friendly figure in the Valley.

"He left us his voice," Cristhian said of Carlos in a tearful speech delivered in Spanish.

The family — brothers, mother, father, teenaged sister and pet dog — moved from a home in Phoenix into a bigger house in Avondale just earlier this year.

"He was the soul of the house. No one was ever sad, because of him," Cristhian said of Carlos. "I love you, brother."

Cristhian said he felt as if Carlos had shielded him, their brother and sister and a cousin during the wreck, leaving the eldest sibling without a scratch.

At the front of the expansive hall was Carlos' copper-colored casket, a bountiful coffin spray of white flowers atop it and large funeral wreaths surrounding it.

The hall was filled with people seated and standing, some bearing flowers.

Large screens played videos featuring Carlos performing, riding a roller-coaster, watching a 2022 World Cup match in Qatar and helping make tortillas.

Cristhian shared a video with attendees he said he recently discovered where his brothers surprised him with shoes for his birthday.

Dressed in black and carrying a bouquet of white flowers, Phoenix resident Yazmin Gonzalez, 25, was there to pay her respects to Carlos, whom she said she knew from school. Gonzalez said she empathized with the family's loss, pointing to the grief she felt when her 56-year-old father died from COVID-19 in 2021.

"I feel the pain. Even I get choked up thinking about the family," a misty-eyed Gonzalez said.

Yosmara Martinez, 24, and Maria Sandoval, 25, who spent an hour working on bespeckled signs bearing photos of him that they brought to the event, said they have been crying since they heard of the singer's death.

"It breaks us … that he's not here," Martinez said.

Sandoval mentioned she attended high school with him.

"I can't believe he's gone," Sandoval said. "He was a really sweet person."

Los Parras, which, including Carlos and his two brothers, was composed of five members. The group performed at quinceañeras, weddings and nightclubs in several U.S. cities. The group had released five albums since signing under a record label in 2017. Drawing 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, the group was currently signed with Los Angeles-based La R Records.

As seen in a Feb. 15, 2020, YouTube video with 23.3 million views, he and the band apparently surprised his fiancée-to-be, Lillian Griego, outside a home with a serenade to their song "Por verte feliz," which included the lyrics, "What I want is an eternal life beside you."

Facebook images show a close relationship between the two. The couple did Disney cosplay around Halloween last year, with Carlos and Griego dressing as the 1995 animated movie "Goof Troop" characters Max and Roxanne, respectively.

Griego on Wednesday posted an Instagram message dedicated to her lost love.

"You had an enormous heart, my baby, like no one in this world. Thanks for that so beautiful and unique love you gave me, thanks for making us all laugh with your little dance and your silliness, thanks for your beautiful voice and thanks for being the most beautiful thing that happened to me in this life," Griego's post read.

Ominously, the couple posed for a photo shoot as a bloodied bride and groom posted Oct. 31, 2021, on Instagram with the caption, "Hasta que la Muerte Nos Separe," or "Till Death Do Us Part."

With "a broken heart," the group announced Carlos' death in Spanish on Instagram on Sunday. "RIP little brother, we love you," the message read.

As a tribute, his family shared a photo of him with part of the lyrics to the band's song "Por verte feliz," adding no time or distance would remove him from their hearts.

A funeral for Carlos will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Hill Cross Catholic Cemetery at 9925 W. Thomas Road in Avondale.

The Republic's Mexico City correspondent Diana García contributed to this report.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at [email protected] or on Twitter @jrgzztx.

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