Three time Grammy Award winning Latin entertainer Vicente Fernandez died December 12, 2021 at the age of 81. While an official cause of death was not given, Fernandez had been hospitalized since a fall at his Guadalajara ranch last August.
He had also been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Guillain-Barre syndrome; and while he had been making some progress, his health had been failing in recent days.
An icon of Mexican ranchera music, he wore the embroidered costumes of the charro when he performed all while being accompanied by a full mariachi band. His baritone voice became the heartbeat of Mexican life itself. His music was multi-generational.
In 1991 the Houston Chronicle deemed Vicente Fernandez “the Frank Sinatra of Ranchera”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfm2zSgQ8cQ
Born on February 17, 1940 in Huentitán El Alto, Mexico; the son of ranchers, a young Vicente moved to Tijuana with his family where he worked numerous odd jobs before beginning his singing career in his teens at local bars and restaurants. But his musical journey began much earlier when he got a guitar at age eight and wasted not time learning how to play it.
After moving to Guadalajara and Mexico City, he began recording his music with his first hit in 1969 with the love song “Tu Camino y El Mío”. Fernandez spent the next five plus decades entertaining fans with his music.
Along with with three Grammy Awards, Fernandez has eight Latin Grammy Awards, recorded some 100 albums, earned Los Nestra Premero Awards, is a member of the Billboard Hall of Fame, appeared in dozens of films, and has bee named the Latiin Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences Person of the Year in 2002.
He is survived by his wife of over 50 years Maria; children – Vicente, Gerardo, Alejandro, and Alejandra -; and grandchildren.
feature photo credit: Vicente Fernández – Pepsi Center – 06.11.11.jpg