Lourdes Ambriz dead: Beloved Disney star dies as tributes pour in: 'Irreparable loss'

Beloved Disney star Lourdes Ambriz has died aged 67. She was best known as the singing voice for the 1991 Spanish version of hit 1991 Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Ambriz died on August 28, with local media reporting she passed due to cancer but this has not been confirmed.

National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) confirmed Ambriz's death on their social media accounts, writing: "The National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature deeply regrets the passing of soprano Lourdes Ambriz, a key figure in Mexican lyric poetry renowned for her extensive repertoire spanning opera, oratorio, chamber, Renaissance, and contemporary music," the translated Facebook post read.

"With an international career spanning more than four decades, she performed on stages in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. She was a member of the artistic group Cantantes Solistas de Bellas Artes and received the 2023 Bellas Artes Medal in Music, the highest distinction awarded by this institution in recognition of her career and contributions to music.

"We express our deepest condolences to her family, colleagues, and the artistic community for this irreparable loss."

Along with the 2023 Bellas Artes Medal, Ambriz took home the National Youth Award in 1987, the Mozart Medal in 2006 and the Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Medal in 2023.

Her career spanned more than four decades, performing on stages across Europe. America, Africa and the Middle East.

She was a soloist with the Dallas and San Francisco orchestras, the Arditti Quartet, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, the Deutsche Kammerakademie, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela and the Prague Opera.

In 2010, Ambriz performed as Eupaforice in Carl Heinrich Graun's Montezuma. The opera debuted in Germany, then Scotland, Spain and Mexico.

Tributes have poured in for the late singer, as devastated Disney fans shared their condolences. One said: "Such a shame. What a beautiful voice, silenced too soon. Rest in peace."

Another added: "What a shame, a beautiful voice & one of the few women who believed a beast could be tamed!"

A third agreed: "What a loss. Her voice brought so much magic to so many. Rest in peace."