Elle Cordova, also known by the former stage name Reina del Cid, is an American singer-songwriter and lead of the folk/rock band Reina del Cid formerly based in Minneapolis, now based in Los Angeles. Elle is a nickname of her birth name, Rachelle. Cordova was born in Fargo, North Dakota, in March 1988, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Minnesota in 2010. After graduating from college, Cordova worked as an editorial assistant for University of Minnesota Press. Cordova adopted the stage name “Reina del Cid” in 2007 as a username for her YouTube channel as a reference to Spanish heroic literature: nicknaming a guitar “El Cid” after the Castilian nobleman of the same name, and adopting the name “Reina,” meaning “queen” in Spanish, or “queen of my guitar.”
Alongside creative partner and lead guitarist Toni Lindgren, Cordova has released five studio albums as Reina del Cid: blueprints, plans (credited to “Reina del Cid & the Cidizens”) released in 2012, The Cooling in 2015, Rerun City in 2017, Morse Code in 2019 and Candy Apple Red in 2022. The Cooling and Rerun City were recorded at Pachyderm Studios. Songs from the second album were featured on NPR, and Baeble Music. Their subsequent single release, “Death Cap”—along with its accompanying music video, which was filmed in Iceland—were featured in Paste Magazine.
As independent artists, Cordova, Lindgren and the band have developed a significant following—380,000 subscribers as of October 2023—on their YouTube channel. They regularly release original songs and covers for their YouTube video series, Sunday Mornings, and frequently tour with singer-songwriters Joshua Lee Turner and Carson McKee.
Their fourth full-length album Morse Code was officially released on October 4, 2019, with a concert at The Cedar Cultural Centre in Minneapolis. In early 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cordova and Lindgren relocated to Los Angeles. Their fifth studio album, Candy Apple Red, was officially released in April 2022, with a concert at the Turf Club in St. Paul.
In July 2023, del Cid “reintroduced” herself as Elle Cordova to reflect new “songs and poems that feel more personal … than ever before.” A new YouTube channel was launched under the name, and the Reina del Cid channel was renamed “Sunday Mornings HQ” where Cordova and Lindgren continue to post weekly covers and originals. The band’s new album will be an Elle Cordova release, while previous material will retain the Reina del Cid moniker.
