vicente fernandez biography in english

Obituary: Vicente Fernández, Mexico's king of ranchera

• Published 12 December 2021

Mexican musician Vicente Fernández has died at the age of 81

In 1998, just months before Mexican musician Vicente Fernández earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his eldest son, Vicente Jr, was kidnapped.

The artist was critically acclaimed and had sold tens of millions of records worldwide. But his fame had attracted the wrong sort of attention.

The kidnappers cut off two of Vicente Jr's fingers. He was released after four months for a reported ransom of $3.2m (£2.3m).

But Vicente Fernández - wildly popular abroad as well as in Mexico - outright refused to leave his home country.

"I will live my whole life in Mexico. I want that to be clear. From my country, they will only take me out feet first," he reportedly said , external .

Some 5,000 people came to see him receive his star on Hollywood Boulevard just months later - reportedly a record turn out.

Known as the king of ranchera music, a traditional Mexican musical genre, Fernández was a national treasure, a symbol of folk culture known and loved by millions.

His voice and his immense popularity at home and abroad earned him comparisons to Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, as well as dozens of awards. He also created a musical dynasty, with his sons Alejandro and Vicente Jr becoming hugely successful musicians.

Alejandro Fernández, left, also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, seven years after his father

The 81-year-old passed away on Sunday in his home city of Guadalajara. The singer had been in poor health for months after suffering a fall at his ranch earlier this year.

"We regret to inform you of his death on Sunday, December 12 at 6:15 a.m.," a post on the singer's Instagram page said.

Fernández was born on a ranch outside the Mexican city of Guadalajara on 17 February 1940. The city is the capital of the state of Jalisco, which is famous for its culture in general, and ranchera music in particular.

He grew up working on his father's ranch and watching the films of Mexican actor and ranchera singer Pedro Infante, one of three traditional singers in Mexico at the time known as the Three Roosters. Infante was one of the inspirations for the character Ernesto de la Cruz in the 2017 Pixar film Coco.

"Some of my earliest memories, from when I was six or seven, are of going to see Pedro Infante movies and telling my mother, 'When I grow up I want to be like them,'" Fernández said.

By the age of eight, he had learned to play the guitar and begun singing ranchera music. After a brief spell working odd jobs in Tijuana, where his family had moved after his father lost the ranch, Fernández returned to Jalisco to pursue a career in music full time in 1960, working as a busker and making occasional television appearances.

Soon after, he moved to Mexico City and sang in a restaurant to make ends meet, but he returned to Jalisco and got married after failing to get a record contract.

Fernández won dozens of awards throughout his career

His big break came in 1966. Javier Solís, the last of the so-called Three Roosters, died after complications from surgery, and CBS Records offered Fernández a contract. He released his first album, Perdóname, that same year and has been with the label ever since.

In the decades that followed, Fernández became one of the most famous entertainers in Mexico. He released more than 50 albums and between 1971 and 1991 starred in dozens of films, for which he also occasionally wrote the soundtracks.

His albums sold tens of millions of copies worldwide, and by the 1980s he had begun to tour throughout North and South America - dressed for every performance in a traditional embroidered charro suit and sombrero.

He was also critically acclaimed. Over the course of his career he won three Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, and more than a dozen Lo Nuestro awards for Latin music. Fernández even has a street named after him , external in the US city of Chicago and a statue of him in his home city of Guadalajara.

Thousands of fans came to watch Fernández receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

But Fernández was also for some a controversial figure. He has long been associated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed the country for 71 uninterrupted years from 1929 to 2000. Many of its high-ranking members have been arrested for corruption.

Fernández appeared at many political rallies, even performing a song at an official event for President Enrique Peña Nieto, a PRI politician who governed from 2012 to 2018. Mexican prosecutors have since opened a corruption investigation into the ex-president .

And in January 2021 he sparked outrage after footage emerged of Fernández grabbing a female fan's breast. He later confirmed he had done so , external , telling the press: "I don't know if it was a joke, I don't remember... I apologise with all my heart."

Fernández announced his retirement in 2012 but continued recording albums - releasing his last in December 2020. He also earned new fans through his Instagram account , external , where he shared family moments with his more than two million followers.

And in 2016 he performed one final time, in Mexico City's massive Azteca Stadium, home of Mexico's national football team. Some 85,000 people attended the event, which was also broadcast live in Mexico and the US and released as a record later in the year - earning him his third Grammy Award , external .

"There is one thing that cannot be bought even with all the gold in the world and that you have always given me," he told the crowd. "Your affection, your respect and your applause."

Vicente Fernández performing with his son, Alejandro (right) and grandson, Alex (left) at the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards

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Fernandez, Vicente

Vicente fernandez, for the record…, selected discography.

Known as el idolo de Mexico and el rey throughout the Latin world, Vicente Fernandez , who started his career singing for tips on the street, has become a Mexican cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to 40 movies. Although less well known to English-speaking audiences, he has consistently filled stadiums and venues throughout his 35-plus years of performing. His repertoire is pure ranchera, a style described by Daniel Chang of the Miami Herald as representing “the Mexico of old—a way of life romanticized by rural ranches, revolution, and philandering caballeros.”

Born on February 17, 1940, in Huentitan el Alto, Jalisco, Mexico, Fernandez spent the early years of his life on his father Ramon’s ranch on the outskirts of Guadalajara. Here the idyllic ranchera lifestyle was instilled in him. His mother often took him to see the films of Pedro Infante, the king of Mexican bolero. Fernandez told Leila Cobo of Billboard the significance of these films: “When I was 6 or 7, 1 would go see Pedro Infante’s movies, and I would tell my mother, ‘When I grow up, I’ll be like them.’” By age eight he had taken up the guitar and was practicing his singing in the style of the ranchera singers he heard on the radio.

In 1954 Fernandez won an amateur contest sponsored by a Guadalajara television station. It was his first break into performing and he began to play at local at clubs and gatherings. Around this time, however, Fernandez’s father lost the ranch and the family moved into the city of Tijuana. Fernandez, who had dropped out of school in the fifth grade, began working odd jobs in the city such as janitor, dishwasher, waiter—whatever he could find. All the while, he still held to his musical aspirations.

In 1960 Fernandez devoted himself to music full time. He went back to Guadalajara, where he performed in the streets for tips while also appearing occasionally on the television show La calandria musical . After a couple of years Fernandez tried his luck in Mexico City , where he found a job singing in a restaurant called El Amanacer Tapatio. When he wasn’t working he was auditioning for recording companies—and constantly being turned down.

The time Fernandez spent in Mexico City was discouraging. By 1963 he left to marry a former neighbor, Maria “Cuca” de Refugio Abarca Villasenor. They now have four children, the oldest of which, Vicente, Jr., was born three months premature in 1963; Fernandez’s mother died within a week of Vicente, Jr.’s, birth.

In 1966 tragedy created an opportunity for Fernandez. In the spring of that year, Javier Solis, Mexico’s most popular traditional singer, died. To fill the gap the record companies called on Fernandez. CBS Mexico, now Sony Discos, which had originally spurned Fernandez, now offered him a recording contract. He released his

Born on February 17, 1940, in Huentitan El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico; son of Ramon Fernandez (a rancher) and Paula Gomez de Fernandez (a homemaker); married Maria “Cuca” de Refugio Abarca Villasenor, 1963; four children.

Began playing guitar by age eight; won amateur contest in Guadalajara, 1954; performed on La calandria musical television show, 1960; moved to Mexico City, joined Mariachi Amanecer, sang in restaurants for tips, 1964; signed with CBS Mexico (now Sony Discos), recorded first single, “Perdoname,” 1966; appeared in Uno y medio contra el mundo, first Mexican film, 1971; first hit movie, La ley del monte, 1974; song “Volver, volver” made him a legend, 1976; assistant director for the film El tahur, 1979; toured Bolivia and Columbia, 1987; performed with Mariachi Chapala, 1997-; performed “Cielito lindo” at Republican National Convention, 2000; toured with son Alejandro Fernandez, 2001.

Awards: Key to the city of San Antonio , TX, 1982; Billboard/Univision Latin Music Awards, Mexican Regional Male Artist of the Year, 1989-93; Los Angeles City Hall passed a resolution in appreciation for his music and work for Latin communities worldwide, 1997; induction, Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame, awarded star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1998; Latin Grammy Award, Best Regional Mexican Song for “Borracho te recuerdo,” 2001; Billboard Music Award, Greatest Hits Album of the Year for Historia de un idolo, Vol. 1 , Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, Latin Grammy for Best Ranchero Album for Mas con el numero uno, and Legend Award, 2002.

Addresses: Record company —Sony Discos Inc., 2190 NW 89th PL, Miami, FL 33172. E-mail— [email protected] . Website —Vicente Fernandez Official. Website: http://www.Vicentefernandez.com

first recording, “Perdonarne,” with the company in 1966; Fernandez still records for Sony Discos.

Fernandez’s career took off at that point and has been nonstop ever since. He branched into acting with the film Uno y medio contra el mundo, released in 1971. His first hit movie, for which he did the soundtrack, was La ley del monte, released in 1974. In the span of 20 years Fernandez has acted, sung, and worked behind the scenes on more than 40 films. He stopped acting in 1991, feeling that he was too old to maintain the proper image for his movies.

Fernandez works hard for his audiences and his performances are legendary. His adoring fans consistently pack the house, whatever the venue, from city squares to large arenas in the United States . He promises each audience that he’ll sing until they are tired, making his concerts last from two and a half to four hours. Maintaining the ranchera tradition, Fernandez always performs wearing the charro, an embroidered suit and sombrero. He explained to Matt Weitz of the Dallas Morning News, “[T]o me it’s [the charro ] Mexico’s second flag. When I put it on, I become an ambassador.”

His pride in tradition and dedication to his fans has led to him to perform when many other artists would have canceled. His father died in 1970, just as Fernandez was about to go onstage. Overwhelmed by the tragic news but determined not to let the crowd go without a show, Fernandez went onstage and performed. In 1998 Fernandez continued to tour despite the kidnaping of his oldest son. (He was released four months later when ransom was paid.)

Fernandez has recorded more than 50 albums in 35 years and claims to have 300 more songs recorded—making another 30 albums possible even if he retires. When he records an album he spends 12-13 hours in the studio recording up to 18 songs. He takes a day off and then returns for another marathon session, recording another 15 or more songs. From those recordings, he and his producer choose 12. Fernandez’s greatest hit was “Volver, volver,” released in 1976; his first million-selling album was 1983’s 15 Grandes con el numero uno . In 1987 he launched his first tour outside the United States and Mexico when he traveled to Bolivia and Columbia.

By the end of the 1980s Fernandez had been famous for more than 20 years, yet he had never earned a major award and was beginning to think he would have to die before he was recognized. His patience was rewarded in 1990 when he released the album Vicente Fernandez y las clasicas de Jose Alfredo Jimenez, a tribute to Mexico’s most famous songwriter, Jose Alfredo Jimenez. The album earned him Billboard and Univision’s Latin Music Award for Mexican Regional Male Artist of the Year, which he won five times from 1989 to 1993. Other awards and recognition followed, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2002 Fernandez was recognized by the Latin Recording Academy as Person of the Year. The same year he celebrated his thirty-fifth anniversary in the entertainment industry, a career in which he has sold more than 43 million records. He has 51 albums listed on the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) registry for gold, platinum, and multiplatinum selling records. With 35 years of experience under his belt, Fernandez has helped maintain a Mexican tradition that may very well pass away when he does. For someone who was told he’d be better off selling peanuts than singing professionally, Fernandez has made a tremendous impact on the music of his homeland.

La voz que usted esperaba, Sony Discos, 1968.

Vicente Fernandez, Sony Discos, 1969.

Ni en defensa propia, Sony Discos, 1970.

Soy DE ABAJO, Sony Discos, 1970.

Camino inseguro, Sony Discos, 1971.

Es muy tu vida, Sony Discos, 1971.

EI Jalisciense, Sony Discos, 1972.

Si no te quisiera, Sony Discos, 1972.

15 grandes con el numero uno, Sony Discos, 1973.

El idolo de mexico, Sony Discos, 1973.

El rey, Sony Discos, 1974.

El hijo del pueblo, Sony Discos, 1975.

La ley del monte, Sony Discos, 1975.

Pos los palenques, Sony Discos, 1977.

El tahur, Sony Discos, 1979.

Alejandro y los valses clasicos, Sony Discos, 1981.

El numero uno, Sony Discos, 1981.

15 nuevos éxitos con el idolo, Sony Discos, 1984.

Vicente Fernandez y las clasicas de Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Sony Discos, 1990.

El charro Mexicano, Sony Discos, 1991.

Recordando a los panchos, Sony Discos, 1993.

Vicente y sus canciones, Sony Discos, 1996.

Entre el amoryyo, Sony Discos, 1998.

Historia de un idolo, Vol. 1, Sony Discos, 2000.

Mas con el numero uno, Sony Discos, 2001.

Historia de un idolo, Vol. 2, Sony Discos, 2002.

Periodicals

Billboard, April 11, 1998; August 31, 2002.

Chicago Sun-Times, November 3, 1997, p. 34.

Dallas Morning News, October 7, 1994, p. 30; October 10, 1994, p. 19A.

Houston Chronicle, September 26, 1993, p. 15; March 29, 1998, p. 7.

Los Angeles Times, November 5, 1992, p. 1; November 21, 1997, p. B4; May 22, 1999, p. A1; August 15, 2000, p. F3;

Miami Herald, October 31, 2001, p. 20A.

Sun-Sentinel ( Fort Lauderdale , FL), September 19, 2002, p .19A.

“Latin Music Legends: Vicente Fernandez,” Association of Hispanic Arts, http://www.latinoarts.org/bookstore/vfernandez.htm (February 2, 2003).

“Vicente Fernandez, El Idolo de Mexico, Pulse!, http://pulse.towerrecords.com/contentStory.asp7contentlch2565 (February 2, 2003).

— Eve M. B. Hermann

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Fernández, Vicente

Vicente fern Á ndez.

Born: Vicente Fern á ndez; Huentit á n El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico, 17 February 1940

Genre: Latin

Best-selling album since 1990: Entre el Amor y Yo (1998)

Hit songs since 1990: "L á stima Que Seas Ajena," "Aunque Me Duela el Alma," "Me Voy a Quitar de en Medio"

Known as "El Idolo de Mexico" (the Idol of Mexico) among Spanish speakers for his chart-topping albums and sold-out tours, the ranchera singer Vicente Fern á ndez embodies the valiant Mexican cowboy that figures so largely in the Mexican psyche. Ranchera music is the quintessential Mexican song form, idealizing rural life and drenching tales of love and breakups in unrestrained emotion. Fern á ndez nearly always performs his rancheras with a mariachi backing. His gift for using his voice to plead, to exult, to taunt, and to bare his soul is unmatched. Though not a songwriter, he has a gift for recording songs that speak to Mexico's fatalism, romanticism, and machismo. From the humblest cantinas to family get-togethers to the preppiest discos, Mexicans use his music to heal broken hearts, to bond, to reaf-firm their roots. He has inspired hundreds of imitators, but none could match his operatic power and range. His impact in ranchera is comparable to Frank Sinatra 's legacy in American pop standards. Despite his many achievements, Fern á ndez remains proud of his humble roots, as Sinatra was.

Spot Light: Las Cl á sicas de Jos é Alfredo Jim é nez

Vicente Fern á ndez's defining moment on record came in 1990, when Fern á ndez, Mexico's greatest ranchera singer, released the album Las Cl á sicas de Jos é Alfredo Jim é nez, a tribute to Jim é nez, Mexico's greatest ranchera songwriter. Like many great composers, Jim é nez drew inspiration from the tragedies in his own life. He wrote more than 300 songs in his career, many of which have become classics. His death, on November 23, 1973, plunged Mexico into a period of national mourning. The album resonates with the driving emotional force of Jim é nez's words and Fern á ndez's powerful vocals. These are gripping tales, but they are also melodic, lyrical, and richly harmonic set against symphonic-like mariachi arrangements. In "Un Mundo Raro" ("A Rare World"), Jim é nez describes surviving an unrequited love to walk away a better man. With his powerful vocals Fern á ndez delivers the message in typical macho swagger: "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved." Cascading violins and echoing horns evoke a sentimental mood. In "Viejos Amigos" ("Old Friends"), a gesture so simple as holding hands is made to sound incredibly romantic. In a touching scene Jim é nez describes looking into the beautiful, tear-filled face of the woman he loves and has never gotten over: "Let me see you crying, let me be by your side." Even the toughest macho has to be moved.

Born to a rancher, Ram ó n Fern á ndez, and a homemaker, Paula Gomez de Fern á ndez, Fern á ndez began dreaming of a singing career early. When he was eight, he received a guitar and quickly learned how to play. At fourteen, he entered an amateur contest in Guadalajara, where he won first place. Later relocating to Guadalajara, he performed in a mariachi band that worked the city's streets. He married Maria "Cuca" de Refugio Abarca Villasenor, a neighbor, in 1963. Among their four children are sons Vicente Jr. and Alejandro, who went on to successful solo careers of their own. In late 1965 Fern á ndez traveled to Mexico City , auditioning at record labels. In the summer of 1966, he signed with CBS M é xico (now Sony Discos), recording his first hits: "Perd ó name," "Tu Camino y El M í o," and "Cantina del Barrio."

But it was not until 1976 that Fern á ndez became the undisputed ranchera king. The songwriter Fernando Z. Maldonado had penned a ranchera tune with a new twist about a macho who accepted blame and acquiesced in a relationship. The angle may have been new, but the song made an impact. "Volver, Volver" went on to become an anthem in the mariachi ranchera canon. The song pole-vaulted Fern á ndez to international stardom and began his string of unforgettable hits. In the ensuing years Fern á ndez recorded a half dozen other standards, including " La Ley del Monte," "El Rey," and "El Penal."

By the early 1980s the Mexican music press coined a new title for him — "El Í dolo de M é xico" — and it stuck. He continued his streak of hits through the 1990s, with "Aunque Me Duela El Alma" (1995) and "Me Voy a Quitar de En Medio" (1998), the theme song to Univision's popular soap opera La Mentira. That year, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His 2001 studio set M á s Con El N ú mero Uno produced the hit "El Ayudante," a macho ranchera expressing a mix of resignation and satisfaction about an affair with a married woman. It was written by Manuel Eduardo Toscano, who penned the hit "Sublime Mujer" off Fern á ndez's 1998 CD Entre el Amor y Yo.

In 2002 Fern á ndez was named the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year by the Latin Grammy association for his artistic accomplishments and for donating ticket proceeds to the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund. In addition to the scholarship fund, Fern á ndez helps out his rural fans by waiving his performance fee at small-town Mexican fairs.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Las Cl á sicas de Jos é Alfredo Jim é nez (Discos CBS, 1990); L á stima Que Seas Ajena (Sony Discos, 1993); Aunque Me Duela el Alma (Sony Discos, 1995); Entre el Amor y Yo (Sony Discos, 1998); M á s Con el N ú mero Uno (Sony Discos, 2001).

ramiro burr

Burr, Ramiro " Fernández, Vicente . " Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 . . Encyclopedia.com. 15 Apr. 2024 < https://www.encyclopedia.com > .

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NEARBY TERMS

Who Was Vicente Fernandez?: The life and work of “El Rey”

Vicente Fernández died in December 2021. However, the trajectory and the musical legacy left by the Mexican artist, are intact. To such an extent that Netflix is ​​broadcasting “El rey, Vicente Fernández,”  a series that pays tribute and tells the story of the idol of the Latin American ranchera. 

Vicente Fernández Netflix Series

Recently released, it is the first series that Caracol produced in Mexico and although it has several real moments lived by the artist, some other parts are fiction. It was recorded in Mexico City in over 300 locations and more than 500 sets were used and several decades were recreated: from 1950 to 1976.

From a very young age, Vicente dreamed of becoming a great artist and being alongside other icons such as Javier Solís, Pedro Infante or Jorge Negrete. However, it was not easy for him because the economic situation of his family was difficult. Precisely, the first episode of this production takes viewers to the beginnings of Fernández, who knows that he has a talent for music, but recognizes that being an artist will not be easy for him.

Throughout history we will see several actors playing this idol of Latin music. Kaleb Acab will play him in his childhood, Sebastián García in adolescence, Sebastián Dante in his transition to adulthood and fame, and finally, Jaime Camil will play him in his most successful stage.

“I remember my grandfather a lot on Sundays at six in the morning playing ‘Chente’ (one of his nicknames). And so we all woke up in the house. He was very nice because we got up with enthusiasm and singing,” is how Sebastián Dante recalls how he began to meet the King.

The actor is now starting to forge a career in the entertainment industry and his arrival to the Vicente Fernandez character involved going through all kinds of emotions. 

“Without a doubt, pressure is felt because he is an iconic person, and not only in Mexico, but also in Latin America and in the world. But, beyond that, this meant a beautiful opportunity for me, to grow as a musician, as an actor, and of course, to meet the man behind the idol,” said Dante. 

“El rey, Vicente Fernández” is a series that covers the different facets of the musician, both in his artistic and real life. It shows him as a friend, husband, father, grandfather, actor, rancher, laborer, painter, film producer and television host. In addition to this, fiction presents those moments of pain, joy, impotence, anger, pride, which made him that character that millions admire.

Who was Vicente Fernández

Vicente Fernández Gómez, was his full name. He was born in Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, on February 17, 1940. Known by his nicknames “El Charro de Huentitán” or “Chente,” he was a Mexican actor and singer. His work in music earned him two Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, 14 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In April 2010, it reached the figure of 60 million copies sold worldwide.

He is one of the legends of Mexican music, who began his artistic career at the age of 14, when he won a contest for young singers in his hometown, in which he came in first place. Since then, Fernández dedicated himself to singing at parties and selling “lechuguillas,” some plants from Jalisco.

In 1960 he participated in the local show “Guadalajara La calandria musical,” which gave him success and popularity in his state.

After the death of his mother in 1963, he married his neighbor María del Refugio “Cuquita” Abarca Villaseñor. From this union Vicente, Gerardo, and Alejandro were born and they adopted Alejandra. Their sons Vicente and Alejandro, “El Potrillo,” have also stood out in the Mexican music scene.

In the 1960s, Vicente Fernández began working at the “El Sarape” cabaret, where he managed to earn a living through his talent as a singer. In 1964 he joined the mariachi group “Amanecer,” one of the most famous in Mexico.

By 1965, an event occurred that would mark a before and after in his career: his music reached the radio. This helped spread his fame throughout Mexico City.

In the following years he appeared on different stages, especially at the Blanquita Theater and recorded his first album with the production company CBS México, which included hits such as “Perdóname.” Later, he recorded 3 more albums with successful sales, beginning his path to become an icon of ranchera music.

As the months went by, he came to television, appearing in numerous family TV shows and later as host of  “Noches Tapatias” with Lucha Villa and “Homenaje” with Lola Beltrán.

In 1972, he recorded the song “Volver, Volver” that became iconic f0r Mexican music, taking him to international fame. For this reason, in the 70’s he recorded his first movie “Tacos al carbon” which, like his albums, was also a box office success. In the following years he continued to record numerous albums and movies, which broke sales records due to his popularity.

Among his most famous songs, “Para siempre” stands out, recorded in 2007, which won gold and diamond certification. In the United States this song earned him, his sixth platinum record. In that same year, the song “Estos celos” remained in the first place for 3 continuous months in the popularity lists of Regional Mexican Music. The discography of this singer exceeds 80 record productions and about 30 films that reached box offices in different countries.

How did Vicente Fernández die

On August 7, 2021, he was urgently admitted to Hospital Country 2000 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, after having suffered an accidental fall that injured his cervical vertebrae, being taken to the ICU. Doctors diagnosed that Fernández suffered from “Guillain-Barré” syndrome.

On October 27, he was taken out of intensive care and was transferred to a hospital room to continue his physical and pulmonary treatment and rehabilitation. On November 16, 2021, he managed to wean himself off the artificial respirator for periods of one hour, as well as increase his pulmonary effort to emit vocalization. On November 30, his health declined as a result of inflammation in his lower respiratory tract and in his urinary system, which is why he returned to intensive care, in addition to requiring respiratory support again.

On December 11, it was reported that his health condition had worsened with increased inflammation of the lower airways and required increased respiratory support; which is why he required to be sedated. Finally, and after being hospitalized for more than 128 days, Fernández died on December 12, 2021, at the age of 81 as a result of multi-organ failure derived from Guillain-Barré syndrome.

His death occurred in Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico), but the legacy of his great artistic and musical work remained forever and now it can also be enjoyed on Netflix in September.

Ten Vicente Fernández musical hits 

• Volver, volver
• Acá entre nos
• La ley del monte
• Perdóname 
• Le pese a quien le pese
• Por tu maldito amor
• Qué de raro tiene
• Estos celos
• Aunque mal paguen ellas

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Vicente Fernández, a Mexican musical icon for generations, dies at 81

Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez performs at AmericanAirlines Arena on October 10, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Olivia Salazar/WireImage)

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Vicente Fernández’s romantic rancheras and timeless folk anthems defined the grit and romance of his turbulent homeland, songs of love, heartbreak and working-class heroes that made him a cultural giant for generations of fans throughout Latin America and beyond.

With his buttery baritone and ornate sombreros, embroidered jackets and slim trousers, he stood as a constant for decades, a source of comfort in good times and bad.

But time finally caught up with a performer who seemed eternal.

In poor health in recent months, Fernández died Sunday at 81, according to an announcement on his Instagram page. A cause of death was not specified.

At the singer’s palatial ranch near Guadalajara, mourners and mariachis gathered to belt out his songs and place flowers outside the stately brick entrance gate Sunday. In other parts of the country, fans blasted his music from their cars and wept openly in the streets.

“I cried,” said Rosa María Hernández, a 40-year-old homemaker in Mexico City. Every member of her family, from her children to her 89-year-old grandmother, are fans of Fernández, she said. “We’re all in pain. Vicente Fernández was one of the greatest artists God gave to Mexico.”

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Mexican music icon Vicente Fernández was more than just a singer to his fans in the U.S. He was them

Dec. 12, 2021

Armando López Estrada, an architect in Mexico City, echoed the sentiment.

“His songs have accompanied me in all my joys and my sorrows,” he said. “Mexico and the world will miss him.”

On Twitter, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador described Fernández as “a symbol of the ranchera song of our time, known and recognized in Mexico and abroad.”

Fernández, who performed his final live show at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium in 2016, had a variety of health ailments in recent years, including liver and prostate cancer. In 2013, he was forced to cut short his farewell tour after being hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism. On numerous occasions, fictional reports of his death surfaced on the internet, leading the singer at one point to release a video in which he humorously declared, “When I die, I’ll let you know.”

Across Los Angeles, fans mourned Vicente Fernández

They blared his songs from speakers in homes and cars and at shops and restaurants. Mourners piled flowers and candles around his star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During a career that began on the street corners of Guadalajara, the self-taught troubadour recorded more than 50 albums, all in Spanish, and sold tens of millions of copies, nearly half in the United States. He toured relentlessly, created the themes for wildly popular telenovelas and starred in more than two dozen movies throughout the ’70s and ’80s.

In 1998, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — his greatest prize, he once said, because he considered it a gift from his fans. But as late as 2016, the inveterate performer was still drawing accolades: Fernández took home the Grammy Award for regional Mexican album for the live recording of his final show, titled “Un Azteca en el Azteca” (“An Aztec at the Aztec”).

Blessed with an operatic voice and a stately sense of showmanship, Fernández was renowned for blending musical virtuosity with heartthrob theatrics, folkloric traditions with mass-market appeal. He was widely viewed as the last of a breed, the final entry in Mexico’s pantheon of crooning matinee idols. His nicknames were appropriately epic: El Número Uno, the People’s Son, the King of Mexican Song. But to his legions of fans, he was “Chente” — short for Vicente — a presence so ubiquitous and long-running, he could, like a member of the family, be invoked with a simple nickname.

In fact, Fernández, decked out in his embroidered ensembles, complete with engraved, gold-plated pistol, served as the embodiment of Mexico itself — at least an older, idealized Mexico. Backed by a full mariachi band, he sang of ranches and cantinas, honor and patriotism, saluting those who were penniless but happy, heartbroken yet proud.

Covering the issues, politics, culture and lifestyle of the Latino community in L.A., California and beyond.

As Fernández approached his prime, however, the Mexico he represented began to unravel. The 1990s brought the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Zapatistas and a parade of horrors beginning with the narco wars. Globalization was reshaping the music industry; Mexican radio came to feature more American top 40 than ranchera, the rural ballads that were Fernández’s bread and butter.

Rather than embrace contemporary styles, Fernández dug in his heels.

“When you’re a ranchera singer, you represent your country,” he once told The Times. “It’s a God-given gift.”

Fernández’s most significant feat may be that he managed to stay relevant, preserving a vernacular genre without being reduced to a novelty act. He seemed to reintroduce himself to a new generation every decade while never straying from the fans who made him a titan.

“The way people look at Vicente, he’s part of their identity: As long as he’s OK, they’re OK,” his record promoter, Sony Discos Vice President Jose Rosario, said at the time.

Entretenimiento

Muere Vicente Fernández, la leyenda que desafió a la historia, a los 81 años

“Lamentamos comunicarles su deceso el día domingo 12 de diciembre a las 6:15 am. (Hora de México).

That role would get its greatest test in 1998, when kidnappers ambushed Fernández’s eldest son and namesake, 33-year-old Vicente Jr., as he left his father’s ranch on the outskirts of Guadalajara. For nearly four months, they held him hostage. Their demands spiraled into the millions. To pressure Fernández, they chopped off two of Vicente Jr.’s fingers.

Although he was distraught, Fernández kept the ordeal secret. He refused to file a police report or cancel any concerts. In part, it was a pragmatic move; the kidnappers had warned him to not make trouble. But Fernández had his own reasons for wanting the show to go on. He was the quintessential old-school performer, an entertainer who lived to sing and sang to live.

Only after Vicente Jr. was freed — unharmed but for his fingers — did Fernández publicly reveal what had happened. Despite the tragedy, he remained fiercely devoted to his native land. “I will not leave Mexico,” he told the Televisa network at the time. “From my country, they will only take me out feet first.”

The story propelled Fernández into U.S. headlines, marking his introduction to many in the English-speaking world. But for millions of Latin Americans — including those living in the United States — Fernández was already a legend on par with the likes of those other mononymous crooners Elvis and Sinatra.

Born Feb. 17, 1940, Vicente Fernández Gomez spent his earliest years in Huentitán El Alto, a rural settlement on the fringes of Guadalajara, where his parents raised cattle. A fifth-grade dropout, the young singer grew up milking cows and birthing calves; as a teenager in Tijuana, he washed dishes, shined shoes, tended bar and laid bricks.

Although he would later become a multimillionaire — with his own Learjet and a swimming pool in the shape of a guitar — Fernández clung to his salt-of-the-earth bona fides. “There are two kinds of people in the world,” he would tell audiences, “the poor rich ones and the rich poor ones.”

The song he considered his most autobiographical — “El Hijo Del Pueblo” (“The People’s Son”), written by legendary singer-songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez — echoed those themes:

It is my pride to have been born in the most humble of neighborhoods, Far from the bustle and false society.… I go through life very happy with my poverty Because I don’t have money, I have a lot of heart.

Appreciation: 10 essential songs of ranchera legend Vicente Fernández

What made Vicente Fernández so consistently spectacular across four decades? Start with these songs.

Fernández’s musical career began just as humbly, without the benefit of voice lessons or star-making machinery. At 21, he returned to Guadalajara and joined the throng of mariachis in the plaza at San Juan de Dios Church, where he spent two years singing for tips. Later, he graduated to the restaurant circuit, then a slot on a live Opry-like radio show. But when he auditioned for his first record contract, the big Mexico City labels treated him like a rube. “They told me that I should go sell peanuts,” Fernández recalled.

Mexican music, up to that point, had been dominated by a succession of mustachioed cowboys, their roguish charms and silken voices marketed as symbols of national identity: Jiménez, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Javier Solis. Each died at the height of their careers, and before hitting middle age. It was the loss of Solis — during gallbladder surgery, in 1966 — that opened the door for Fernández; within a week, he got a call from CBS Records. Fernández signed with the label, which later became Sony, the company he remained with his entire career.

He soon gained fame for his dexterous baritone, as thick and pliable as putty. He could wail and whimper, chortle and coo, often dropping his microphone midsong and finishing the verse in a naked roar. Whether performing in a Mexican cockfighting pit or a pricey Vegas lounge, he always began with the same promise: to keep singing as long as his audience kept applauding. Frequently, that would mean a marathon of three or four hours, leaving him bathed in sweat, soaked by kisses and showered with booze.

It was the romantic “Volver, Volver” (“Return, Return”), which he first released in 1972, that launched him to international stardom — a searing ballad of a man who longs to returns to the arms of the woman he loves. The song is now a staple of Latin American song (and drunken late-night revelry), reimagined by myriad mariachi acts, European vocalists and the L.A. band Los Lobos, who included a rocked-out version of the tune on albums and concerts.

Unlike the other ranchera kings — none of whom lived past their 40s — Fernández spent a lifetime atop the throne. Over the course of his career, he won three Grammy Awards and eight Latin Grammys, along with innumerable Mexican and other Latin American honors. In 2002, he was honored as person of the year by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, organizer of the Latin Grammys.

For decades, he reigned as one of the most bankable acts in Los Angeles, selling out a string of shows every year at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena and the Universal Amphitheatre. When his Hollywood star was unveiled, a record 4,500 people turned out.

“He represents the maintenance of a culture, the heart and soul of the masses,” said Steve Loza, a professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA. “You want to feel proud of who you are? You want to tell your kids what it is to be Mexican and never lose it? All you have to do is listen to Vicente.”

Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Mario Lopez mourn Vicente Fernández: ‘Voice of a culture’

Fans have taken to social media to honor Vicente ‘Chente’ Fernández, the 81-year-old Mexican singing legend whose death was announced Sunday.

His most important partner throughout his life was his wife, María del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor, known as Cuquita, the Guadalajaran neighbor whom he married in 1963, and with whom he had four children: Gerardo, Alejandra, Vicente Jr. and Alejandro. The latter two, like their father, became singers — with the handsome, baritone-voiced Alejandro, whose music straddles pop and Mexican traditional styles, achieving a large measure of international stardom. Alejandro, dubbed “El Potrillo,” or the Colt, would often join his father onstage for duets, with the mournful “Perdón,” whose lyrics begged the forgiveness of a beloved, becoming a staple.

To his fans, Fernández sometimes seemed ageless — his thin mustache and long sideburns remaining preternaturally black — but he was keenly aware of time. He retired from the movie business in 1991, mindful that his on-screen magnetism had begun to fade. But he remained a magnetic stage presence until the end, even when his movements were slowed by age, his voice hollowed by time. At his final concert at Azteca Stadium, as was his custom, he held aloft a glass of tequila while belting out “Volver, Volver,” blowing kisses to the ebullient crowd.

Fernández often spoke of wanting his life to end onstage, a sentiment that inspired one of his favorite songs, “Una Noche Como Esta” (“A Night Like This One”):

If singing like this I have earned your affection, I would be happy if, singing like this, One day, I die .

Times columnists Carolina A. Miranda and Gustavo Arellano in Los Angeles and staff writer Kate Linthicum and special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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Who is Vicente Fernández? A Mexican musical legend celebrated in the U.S.

Update: Vicente Fernández passed on Dec. 12 after remaining hospitalized for four months. Read more .

Don Vicente Fernández, also known as "El Charro de Huentitán" and the "King of Rancheras" is present in more than just your Mexican parents' vinyl collection. Throughout his career, Chente, as he is lovingly referred to by his fans, has distinguished himself by taking Mexican music around the world throwing the longest concerts on the most renowned stages — making a name not only for himself but also for the popular love ballads and ranchera music that characterize México.

Five years after he announced his farewell from the stage, his songs continue to be an inspiration to people in Latin American countries, México and the U.S., shaping cultures and musical tastes as his rancheras cast stories of sorrow, hope, love and especially Mexican pride for all to enjoy.

As the world waits on news of his recovery after a fall that left him in critical condition this week , we tell you a little bit about the Mexican mariachi icon that has forever left his mark in the music scene in the U.S.

A Mexican legend celebrated in the US

Fernández was born in 1940 in a town called Huentitán El Alto, in the state of Jalisco.

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His career in music started at an early age, winning talent shows and serenading young women alongside the mariachis of his town. As soon as he got the green light from CBS México, now known as Sony Music, in 1966, he hit the ground running and hasn't stopped since.

Chente recorded more than 100 albums, sold over 70 million copies, starred in 34 films in Mexican cinema and recorded more than 300 songs. He went on to produce great hits like "Volver, Volver," "Por Tu Maldito Amor," "Hermoso Cariño" and "El Rey," a song that very much does justice to his moniker as King of Rancheras.

But the kid from Huentitán El Alto never forgets that all he has achieved is thanks to those who have supported him: his family, his studio and, of course, his fans.

“As long as you don't stop clapping, your Chente doesn't stop singing," he would tell his fans while he belted out his songs on stage. True to his word, he was known for having concerts that lasted at least 4 hours.

He did just that in 2016 when he said his goodbye to the stage during a free farewell concert in México City at Azteca Stadium. After that he retired to his home, a ranch called Los Tres Potrillos, just outside of Guadalajara. He hasn't stopped composing music though.

Chente has received countless honors, especially as his music made its way to the U.S.

He was awarded the Mr. Amigo Review Award in Brownsville, Texas, in 1977. In 1982, he received the keys to San Antonio, Texas, from then-Mayor Henry Cisneros. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Billboard magazine.

In the fall of 1999, Fernández toured promoting his new CD, “Eternamente” in which he paid tribute to the distinguished group “Los Dandys” from Mexico. That year, Fernández was nominated for the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Rhythm Awards at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

In 2000, Fernández performed “Cielito Lindo” at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

Chente stayed on the charts for many years, with two albums of his greatest hits. "Historia de un ídolo Volumen I," a 17-song album released in 2000, included some of his hits like “Lástima que Seas Ajena," “Me Voy a Quitar de en Medio” and “Nos Estorbó la Ropa.”

Thanks to these productions he received the RIAA Double Platinum certification.

He also received the Billboard Latin Music Award for Greatest Hits Album of the Year for "Historia de un ídolo Volumen II," presented in 2002, containing hits “El Rey," “De Qué Manera te Olvido” and “Volver, Volver."

That same year, he again achieved success with his single “El Ayudante” from his album “Más con el Número Uno."

Also in 2001, Fernández and his son Alejandro Fernández appeared on the “Lazos Invencibles” tour, the first tour they had done together in eight years. At the same time, Vicente Fernández Jr., another of Fernández's sons, presented his first album with norteño themes entitled “El Mayor de los Potrillos," influenced by his father's career.

In September 2002, he was honored as Person of the Year by the Latin Recording Academy for his artistic achievements and for his donation to the National Scholarship Fund for Hispanics. He also helps his followers who live in the countryside, performing for free at fairs in small Mexican towns.

In 2006, after three years without recording, Fernández released the album “La Tragedia del Vaquero,” a studio album with 14 unreleased songs — a true gem in the repertoire of Mexican mariachi music.

From that production came hits such as "Lejos de mi Tierra," "La Tragedia del Vaquero" and "Qué Chulada de Mujer." The song "La Tragedia del Vaquero” was certified Platinum in the United States for its high sales.

In 2007, Chente celebrated the first 40 years of his artistic career with one of the most successful tours in the history of any Spanish-speaking artist in the United States.

In addition, his next album, “Para Siempre,” was certified as a Diamond Plus Gold Record in México and six Platinum Records in the United States.

This album managed to transcend in the musical field, being worthy of a Diamond recognition for more than 500,000 copies sold in México alone, Diamond Record in Colombia, and special recognition for more than 1.5 million copies sold internationally. In the United States, the album is considered the best-selling Latin album of 2008.

Chente has won three Grammys. One in 2010 for Best Regional Mexican Album “Necesito de Ti.” Another in 2015 for the same category. And finally, in 2017, the recording of his final performance on stage in 2016, titled “Un Azteca en el Azteca (En Vivo),” landed him his most recent Grammy.

From 1989 to 2014, he was awarded eight Latin Grammys, 14 Premios Lo Nuestro awards and a handful of Billboard awards.

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Vicente 'Chente' Fernández, 'El Rey' of ranchera music, has died at 81

Adrian Florido

Vicente Fernández performs onstage during the 20th annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2019. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for LARAS hide caption

Vicente Fernández performs onstage during the 20th annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2019.

Vicente Fernández, an icon of traditional Mexican music, has died. He was 81. The announcement from his family did not give a cause of death, but the singer had been hospitalized since August, after a fall at his Guadalajara ranch in the central state of Jalisco required an emergency spinal surgery.

While in the hospital, he had also been diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the body's nerves, his family had reported to media. Following months of steady improvement, his health had taken a turn for the worse in recent days.

Fernández was largely considered the last living legend of the Mexican ranchera, the style of song deeply rooted in the values and traditions of rural Mexico. He sang about honor and courtship, cockfights and rodeos, love and heartbreak – all while dressed in the elegantly embroidered costume of the charro, Mexico's chivalrous cowboy, and accompanied by a full mariachi ensemble.

Fans worry over ranchera icon Vicente Fernández, who remains hospitalized

Over a six-decade career, his voice became synonymous with Mexico itself. His velvety baritone was instantly recognizable, and his songs worked their way into the daily lives of Mexicans and lovers of Mexico the world over – the soundtrack to wedding parties and quinceañeras, baptisms, birthdays and funerals.

He was also the quintessential symbol of the Mexican macho. His thick mustache, dyed black long after his hair had turned white, was punctuation under the brim of his shoulder-wide sombreros. At concerts he wore a pistol on his hip, and he sang for hours, drenching himself in sweat. Just as it appeared he might be wrapping up, he'd take a swig of tequila, and sing some more.

"He would sing as long as people wanted him to sing," said Leila Cobo, vice president at Billboard magazine. "And I think that commitment to his fans that said, 'I'm yours for the taking,' just had a huge impact."

In many ways his image was a perfect fit for and a product of Mexico's patriarchal culture. But Fernández also dispensed with some of the expectations that Mexican culture places on its men – that they be walls of stoicism, suppressing emotion. His songs dripped with an uncommon vulnerability, and in many of them, he openly wept, gasping for breath as he drowned in the pain of a bitter heartbreak.

"He would sing these songs with so much pathos and so much emotion, that grown men would cry, and he would cry," Cobo said. "Perhaps because he was such a macho man, he could cry. And that made him all the more iconic and legendary."

'The Living Legend' of Mexican Ranchera Music

Fernández was born in 1940, in a small town in the central ranching state of Jalisco. As a boy his family moved to Tijuana, where he worked odd jobs – washing cars, digging ditches, shining shoes, and pouring the foundation for the homes in some of that city's early suburbs.

He started singing in bars and restaurants at 19, and eventually made his way back to Guadalajara and Mexico City, where he convinced label executives to record his music. His first hit, in 1969, was "Tu Camino y El Mío," a nostalgic ballad about an unrequited love.

Transmito mi pésame a familiares, amigos y millones de admiradores de Vicente Fernández, símbolo de la canción ranchera de nuestro tiempo, conocido y reconocido en México y en el extranjero. — Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) December 12, 2021

Over the decades he'd have many more. He recorded dozens of albums that sold millions of copies, and won three Grammys.

But he always emphasized his humble origins, and felt an affinity with Mexico's poor, working-class, and rural people. He performed in massive concert arenas as well as in bullrings and cockfight pits.

And he became an important icon for Mexican immigrants to the U.S. and around the world – who found that his music transported them to the ranches and towns they'd reluctantly left behind in search of opportunity abroad.

Mexico's "King of Mariachi" Makes New Fans North of the Border

His longevity and popularity as a singer was remarkable, spanning generations, said Jose Anguiano, a professor in popular music at California State University, Los Angeles. His immense popularity even among young Mexicans and Mexican-Americans today, Anguiano said, owes in large part to the timelessness of his recordings, but also to the way Mexican families have relied on his music to constantly renew their pride in Mexico and in Mexican culture.

"He was singing not just to us but to our uncles, our parents, and our grandmothers as well," Anguiano said. "So there's this immense sense of loss for what he means to the culture."

• Vicente Fernandez

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Vicente Fernández, revered Mexican singer, dies at 81

FILE - Vicente Fernandez performs at the 20th Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 14, 2019, in Las Vegas. The Mexican singer died early Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, relatives reported. He was 81 years old. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE- In this file photo of Saturday, April 16, 2016, the Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez performs at a free concert at Azteca Stadium. Fernández, the regional Mexican music star whose powerful voice immortalized songs like “El rey”, “Volver, Volver” and “Pity that you are alien” while inspiring new generations of performers like his son Alejandro Fernández Jr., He died early Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, relatives reported. He was 81 years old. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

FILE - Vicente Fernandez, center, performs with his son Alejandro Fernandez, right, and grandson, Alex Fernandez, at the 20th Latin Grammy Awards, on Nov. 14, 2019, in Las Vegas. The Mexican singer died early Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, relatives reported. He was 81 years old. (Foto AP/Chris Pizzello, archivo)

FILE - Vicente Fernandez performs at a free concert during Valentine’s Day in Mexico City’s on Feb. 14, 2009, file photo, singer. On Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2016. The Mexican singer died Sunday at 81 years of age in Guadalajara, Mexico, his family announced in a statement. (AP Photo/Claudio Cruz, File)

FILE - Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez drinks “Aguardiente,” a Colombian liqueur derived from sugar cane, during a concert in Cali, Colombia, Feb. 21, 2009. Fernandez, a beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández Jr. has died. (AP Photo/Christian Escobar Mora, File)

Miguel del Toro Chavez a fan of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez holds a book with an image of him outside of a hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. The Mexican singer died, relatives reported. He was 81 years old. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)

A Mariachi band waits for clients at Pepe Guizar square or “Plaza de los Mariachis” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. Vicente Fernandez, the beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández Jr. has died. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)

Fans of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez take a selfie with a statue of Fernandez, at Pepe Guizar square or “Plaza de los Mariachis” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. Fernandez, a beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández Jr. has died. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)

Fans of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez meet around a statue of him at Pepe Guizar square or “Plaza de los Mariachis” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. Fernandez, a beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández Jr. has died. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)

FILE - Mexico’s “King of Ranchero” Vicente Fernandez, left, is embraced by his son Alejandro during a tribute gala honoring him as the 2002 Latin Recording Academy person of the year in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002. Vicente Fernandez, the beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández Jr. has died. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Vicente Fernández, an iconic and beloved singer of regional Mexican music who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández, died on Sunday. He was 81.

Fernández was known for hits such as “El Rey,” and “Lástima que seas ajena,” his command of the ranchera genre and his dark and elegant mariachi suits with their matching wide-brimmed sombreros.

His music attracted fans far beyond Mexico’s borders. Songs like “Volver, Volver” and “Como Mexico no hay dos” were extremely popular among Mexican immigrant communities in the U.S. because of how they expressed the longing for the homeland.

“It was an honor and a great pride to share with everyone a great musical career and give everything for the audience,” Fernández’s family said on his official Instagram account. “Thank you for continuing to applaud, thank you for continuing to sing.”

Fernández, known also by his nickname ″Chente,″ died at 6:15 a.m. in a hospital in Jalisco state, his family said. In August, he had suffered a serious fall and had been hospitalized since then for that and other ailments.

Beginning early on Sunday, people began posting messages, many of them recalling the lyrics to one of the favorite mariachi requests at parties and restaurants that goes “I am still the king.”

Music greats such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Pitbull and Maluma took to social media to post heartfelt condolences, some citing how his music influenced them. Famous country singer George Strait said he was “one of my heroes.”

“I am broken hearted. Don Chente has been an angel to me all my life,” Ricky Martin said. “The only thing that gives me comfort at this moment, is that every time we saw each other I told him how important he was to me.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also expressed his condolences, calling him “a symbol of the ranchera music.”

On Sunday night, his widow, María del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor, along with his children, grandchildren and hundreds of relatives and friends said goodbye to Fernández at his favorite place, his ranch.

The earth of Los Tres Potrillos ranch on the outskirts of Guadalajara vibrated when his fans in the stands and mariachis on a stage covered with flowers bid goodbye the giant of Mexican music. The song “Mexico Lindo” opened the public funeral at Los Tres Potrillos. His iconic charro hat was perched on the coffin. His private burial was to take place on Monday.

The timing of his death was also highlighted by fans as Fernández often sang on Dec. 12 to mark the Catholic pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, an event that attracts vast crowds. The commemoration was being held on Sunday after it was canceled last year because of the pandemic.

Vicente Fernández Gómez was born on February 17, 1940 in the town of Huentitán El Alto in the western state of Jalisco. He spent most of his childhood on the ranch of his father, Ramón Fernández, on the outskirts

The artist sold more than 50 million records and appeared in more than 30 films. In 1998, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In April 2016, he said goodbye to the stage before about 85,000 people in Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Spectators had traveled from northern Mexico as well as the United States, Colombia and other Latin American countries for the occasion.

Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report from Miami.

Vicente Fernández, the last king of mariachi, dies at 81

The award-winning mexican singer has died due to a respiratory problem, leaving behind a 50-year legacy and a few unanswered questions.

“But the day that I die, I know you’ll have to cry; cry and cry.” Vicente Fernández, one of the most influential of Mexico’s ranchero singers, has sung this line from the song El Rey (or, The King), hundreds of times. On Sunday, at the age of 81, the seminal voice of Mexican mariachi music – one of the greatest in the history of the genre, alongside Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís – passed away. For his millions of fans in Latin America, the mournful moment to cry for the king had arrived.

Fernández had been under medical care since August. That month, his family confirmed through the singer’s official Instagram account that he was in a serious condition following a fall at his ranch “that caused a spinal cord trauma at the cervical spine level.” The medical team that operated on Fernández kept his fans up to date regarding his health – he was placed on ventilatory support and required a tube to be fed – over the following weeks via social media. After several days of observation in a Guadalajara hospital, Fernández was discharged and able to return home. But last Friday one of his sons and a doctor told the Mexican newspaper Reforma that the singer had been admitted to hospital again in critical condition with pneumonia. Fernández passed away after his respiratory condition worsened, his family confirmed.

Fernández – or “Chente” as he was popularly known – was born in the village of Huentitán El Alto, Jalisco, in 1940, the son of a rancher and a home-maker, and started out in the world of music by singing at weddings and restaurants in Guadalajara and later in Mexico City. He appeared on television shows and managed to get some of his songs played on radio stations in the capital, leading to CBS (now Sony Music) opening its doors to him in 1965. Some of his songs – Tu camino y el mío ( or, Your road and mine), Perdóname ( or, Forgive me), and his album Palabra de rey (or, The king’s word) – gained popularity but his big break came a decade later with the song that catapulted him to stardom, in 1972: Volver, volver ( or, Going back, going back).

“Into your arms, again, I will get to where you are; I know how to lose, I know how to lose, I want to go back, go back, go back,” runs the chorus of Volver, volver , a tragic love song that turned Fernández into the king of mariachi across the whole of Latin America. The song was covered by a vast array of musicians, from Chavela Vargas, Concha Buika and Ana Gabriel, to Nana Mouskouri and Harry Dean Stanton. But there is no rendition of the song as memorable as the one Fernández and his son, the singer Alejandro Fernández, performed together at a concert several years ago. “I believe that on the day they are burying me, the whole world will sing it,” Fernández told the audience of his most beloved song.

Chente’s career spanned more than half a century, he sold more than 50 million records worldwide (almost always produced by Sony Music) and left a sprawling legacy “about tears and sighing, of abandonment and painful memories; his music laughs while the singer laments,” as noted in a New York Times review of a 2008 show at Madison Square Garden.

As well as his musical success, Fernández also made appearances in dozens of films and television soaps. He won three Grammy Awards and nine Latin Grammy Awards during his career and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “We are honored by the visit of the titan of the most profound of our peoples, not just of the Mexican people but of all the peoples of America and the world,” said then Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in 2012 when bestowing the Order of the Liberators of Venezuela, the country’s highest honor, on Fernández.

“Solís, Infante or Negrete did not have the fortune to confront the laws of time. Vicente overcame them and there is nobody that can replace him”, the songwriter Martín Urieta, who created 25 songs for Chente, told El PAÍS last year. “His voice is intact at the age of 80 and we’ll never know if Infante, for example, would still be the same at the same age. This is one of Vicente’s great merits; he will always remain as number one.” Urieta is one of a group of composers who found what they were looking for in Fernández’s voice, along with Federico Méndez Tejada, Fernando Maldonado (who wrote Volver, Volver ), José Alfredo Jiménez (who wrote El Rey ), Gerardo Reyes and Jorge Massías.

Although he was famous for so many hits, Chente wrote very few songs himself. “I have never said I’m a songwriter,” he explained in an interview published on his official website. “It’s a very difficult job. However, some ideas and inspiration have come to me and when that happens, I rush to grab a pen and scribble down a few lines.”

Vicente Fernández performed live for the last time on April 16, 2016, at the age of 76, in a spectacular show at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City in front of 90,000 fans. “The day that I run into [then US president] Donald Trump I’m going to spit in his face,” he said on the day of his farewell from public performances.

Chente, however, was far from an impeccable idol, and running concurrent to his legend are serious question marks. In later life, he was criticized for his alignment with Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and he was widely condemned when he said in 2019 that he had refused a liver transplant because he did not want an organ that could have belonged to a “homosexual or a drug addict,” despite successful life-saving surgery to remove a tumor from his liver in 2012. “He couldn’t stand Juan Gabriel because he was gay; Chente was a man from another era and he was very homophobic,” the writer Olga Wornat recently told EL PAÍS about the relationship between the two singers. Wornat has just published El ultimo rey (or, The last king), an unauthorized biography that addresses the chauvinistic behavior of Fernández and the alleged links between his son, Gerardo Fernández, with the Sinaloa cartel .

“Did Chente know? Yes, he knew. But he turned a blind eye,” said Wornat of the criminal association of his son. “And then there is the case of the singer Joan Sebastián [who was accused of links to the cartels and human trafficking after his death in 2015], who was a close friend of Vicente Fernández. They used to visit each other at their ranches and Alejandro Fernández was like a godson to him. But he was not only the subject of a drug-trafficking investigation, there were also parties at his ranch with minors who had been kidnapped in Guatemala. And I ask myself: ‘How did Chente not know about this?’ Maybe he didn’t want to know or he didn’t want to look, I can’t be sure because he became ill and I never got the chance to ask him that question, and nobody else ever asked it.”

“Life is a glass of liquor; nobody enjoys it forever. It ends if you down it in one, the same as if you sip it slowly,” one of Chente’s songs says. A man who said he had no throne and no queen, and that there was nobody who understood him, drank the sweetness of life for 81 years. Now he has gone, with many serious questions left to answer. But he remains the king.

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National news | vicente fernández, revered mexican singer known for his command of the ranchera genre and his elegant mariachi suits, dies at 81.

Refugio Ruiz/AP

Fans of the singer Vicente Fernández take a selfie with a statue of Fernández at Pepe Guizar square, or "Plaza de los Mariachis," in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday, Dec. 12. Fernandez, a beloved Mexican singer who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández, has died.

Marco Ugarte/AP

Mexican singer Vicente Fernández performs at a free concert April 16, 2016, at Azteca Stadium. Fernández, a regional Mexican music star whose powerful voice immortalized songs like "El Rey," "Volver, Volver" and "Pity That You Are Alien" while inspiring new generations of performers like his son Alejandro Fernández, died Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, relatives reported. He was 81 years old.

Fernández was known for hits such as “El Rey” and “Lástima que seas ajena,” his command of the ranchera genre, and his dark and elegant mariachi suits with their matching wide-brimmed sombreros.

On Sunday in Little Village, dozens of people paraded on West 26th Street to celebrate the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. “La Diferencia,” one of many iconic songs by Fernández, blared from a nearby store speaker.

Fernández had long-standing ties to Chicago as one of the first U.S. cities where he gained a large following.

“He started his career in cities like Chicago with his music,” said Ald. George Cardenas, whose ward includes Little Village. “He talked about the highs and lows of life, falling in love, falling out of love, what it meant to be Mexican. He spoke to the regional pride that people have of their beautiful country.”

Songs like “Volver, Volver” and “Como Mexico no hay dos” were extremely popular among Mexican immigrant communities in the U.S. because of how they expressed the longing for the homeland.

“It was an honor and a great pride to share with everyone a great musical career and give everything for the audience,” Fernández’s family said on his official Instagram account. “Thank you for continuing to applaud, thank you for continuing to sing.”

Fernández, known also by his nickname ?Chente,? died at 6:15 a.m. in a hospital in Jalisco state, his family said. Funeral plans were not immediately announced. In August, he had suffered a serious fall and had been hospitalized since then for that and other ailments.

In 2012, Fernández received the keys to the city of Chicago and the section of West 26th Street that encompasses the Little Village arch was renamed Vicente Fernández Avenue in his honor. Oct. 20 to 27 is also celebrated as “Vicente Fernández Week” in Chicago.

Mia Hodges, 21, remembers listening to Fernandez’s music on her grandmother’s old record player. Hodges, her mother and her grandmother would gather around to listen to songs like “Volver, Volver ,” one of Hodge’s early connections to Mexican musical traditions. Today, Hodges is the president of Mariachi Northwestern, one of the few college mariachi bands in Chicago.

“His music really reminds me of family and the value of culture and tradition,” Hodges said.

Beginning early on Sunday, people began posting messages, many of them recalling the lyrics to one of the favorite mariachi requests at parties and restaurants that goes “I am still the king.”

Music greats such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Pitbull and Maluma took to social media to post heartfelt condolences, some citing how his music influenced them. Famous country singer George Strait said he was “one of my heroes.”

“I am broken hearted. Don Chente has been an angel to me all my life,” Martin said. “The only thing that gives me comfort at this moment, is that every time we saw each other I told him how important he was to me.”

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also expressed his condolences, calling Fernández “a symbol of the ranchera music.”

Meanwhile, outside the hospital where he died, fans began arriving Sunday carrying photographs with the singer and belting out his best hits.

Vicente Fernández Gómez was born on Feb. 17, 1940, in the town of Huentitán El Alto in the western state of Jalisco. He spent most of his childhood on the ranch of his father, Ramón Fernández, on the outskirts of town.

The artist sold more than 50 million records and appeared in more than 30 films. In 1998, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In April 2016, he said goodbye to the stage before about 85,000 people in Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Spectators had traveled from northern Mexico as well as the United States, Colombia and other Latin American countries for the occasion.

Cardenas remembers the cold and rainy day when Fernández was given keys to the city and part of Little Village’s main thoroughfare was renamed in his honor. Still, the street was packed with fans. Cardenas said many just wanted to be close to the music icon, to hug him or touch him.

“It was a point of pride for many, to name a piece of our city in his name,” Cardenas said. “It just meant a lot just knowing that he will be with us forever in that stretch of Little Village, in our imagination, in our culture.”

Chicago Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and Laura Rodríguez Presa contributed.

Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report from Miami.

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Vicente Fernández Knew His Way Around Your Broken Heart

First breakups. Final goodbyes. For generations, Mr. Fernández, who died on Sunday, provided a soundtrack for moments of anguish and heartache, and a pathway to healing.

By Eduardo Medina

After four years of dating, this is what it came to for Art Castillo: sitting alone in his blue truck in Waco, Texas, listening to his girlfriend on speaker. Long distance wasn’t working, she told him. She had found another man. The relationship was over.

“I hanged up and put Vicente Fernández on,” said Mr. Castillo, 30. He played “ La Cruz de Tu Olvido ,” in which Mr. Fernández bellows, “As I looked at the evil in your eyes, I understood that you have never loved me.” He played it louder, again and again, until he was done crying.

“With his songs,” Mr. Castillo said, “you just feel it inside you.”

For generations, Mr. Fernández’s often sorrowful songs have served as a balm for the heartbroken. Over a career that spanned six decades, Mr. Fernández, the Mexican ranchera superstar who died on Sunday at 81 , recorded hundreds of songs and dozens of albums, singing of unrequited love, scornful partners and tarnished romance.

In that time, Mr. Fernández, known to millions as Chente, became a beacon for the brokenhearted, a man to listen to when love has gone awry and all you want — besides, perhaps, some tequila — are plucky guitars, harmonized horns and someone to give voice to your most intimate feelings.

“For a lot of people with Mexican descent, his voice is home,” said Rachel Yvonne Cruz, a professor of Mexican American studies and a music specialist at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

That explains why so many people, mostly Latinos, turn to him when they are down, she said.

“When Vicente Fernández sang, he expressed all of those emotions that we keep held inside: that silent cry, that silent scream that’s happening when you’re heartbroken, when you just cannot anymore,” Dr. Cruz said. “And when you listened to him, you were able to have that release that you needed.”

Who broke Mr. Fernández’s heart? That remains a playful mystery among his fans. He married María del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor when he was in his early 20s, and the two stayed together until his death.

But however and whenever his heartbreak occurred, his fans say, his anguish came through in his lyrics.

Tu boca, tu ojos y tu pelo Los llevo en mi mente, noche y día

“Your mouth, your eyes and your hair, I carry them in my mind, night and day,” Mr. Fernández sings in “Las Llaves de Mi Alma.”

Por tu maldito amor No puedo terminar con tantas penas

“Because of your damn love, I can’t bring an end to so much shame,” he roars in “ Por Tu Maldito Amor .”

En un marco, pondré tu retrato Y en mi mano, otra copa de vino

“In a frame, I will put your portrait, and in my hand, another glass of wine,” he croons in “ Tu Camino y el Mío .”

That was the song that helped Fernanda Aguilera.

“I had been with someone since, I guess, high school, and then you think, ‘Well, this is going to be my person,’” said Ms. Aguilera, 27, of San Antonio. But when college came and they went their separate ways, she realized that the relationship “was just an illusion in my head.”

She played “Tu Camino y el Mío” (“Your Road and Mine”), and recalled thinking: “This is exactly how I feel, but I could just never find the words. And it’s like he put the words together for me.”

On a cool March night in Oxnard, Calif., a brokenhearted Jaime Tapia grabbed some beers, invited a friend to his house and put on a Vicente Fernández playlist. Mr. Tapia was 19. He and his girlfriend of four years had decided to cut off their relationship earlier that night.

Mirroring the way Mr. Fernández had dealt with heartache in the movies (mostly with alcohol, a somber stare into the middle distance and buddies who reassure him he will be OK), Mr. Tapia and his friend kept the beers coming as they sat on the hoods of their cars.

“Just dozing off, looking at the stars,” he said. He was lonely and drunk for the first time in his life.

“A lot of the songs that Chente talks about are about breakups, being in a cantina, stuff like that,” Mr. Tapia said. “So even though you feel sad at the time, you felt good that you were bonding with a buddy and that you weren’t by yourself.”

Ranchera music “can be thought of as a sung exposition of one’s most honest emotions,” said Mónica Fogelquist, a professor of practice in mariachi and ethnomusicology at the University of Texas at Austin.

“In Mexican culture, men are supposed to be strong, valiant, proud and void of any sentiment,” she said. “They don’t cry, and they don’t express vulnerability, including heartache. However, through music, all the unexpressed or prohibited emotions are free to come out.”

People have used Chente’s romantic tunes to try to win back an estranged partner through serenatas , a musical message of love delivered by a mariachi band in front of a lover’s window — a tradition that Mr. Fernández popularized in films .

“It’s pretty popular; we’ve been hired a couple times to help win that person back,” said Giovanni Garcia, who manages the band Mariachi Estrellas de Chicago. He added, “There’s been a couple of times where they’ll tell us, ‘Oh, I’m in the doghouse right now and hoping this will help me.’”

Sometimes it works, he said. Often, it doesn’t — even if the band plays one of Mr. Fernández’s songs.

Someone tried it on Laura Figueroa once. It did not end well.

A mariachi band knocked on her door in Chicago. Her little brother let them inside, and the musicians marched through the kitchen and into her bedroom. She was 22 at the time.

“I’m sitting there looking down at the floor like, ‘Oh my God, there’s literally a mariachi in my house,’” said Ms. Figueroa, now 39. She does not believe the band played Chente, and in any event she did not take her former lover back.

Jesus Gutierrez, 37, of Chicago said his father used to sing “Hermoso Cariño” (“Beautiful Darling”) by Mr. Fernández to his mother, Juana, when they were dating in Guanajuato, Mexico. She used to be embarrassed when telling the story, Mr. Gutierrez said, because his father, Nicolas, was “not a good singer.”

But perhaps it worked, he said, because they married, had children and listened to ranchera music together for decades. She saved nearly all of her Chente vinyl records and screamed every word of his heartbreaking songs at his concerts, her son recalled.

In 2019, Juana Gutierrez died, and Chente’s songs came to represent a new type of heartbreak for Mr. Gutierrez. He said he couldn’t play some of his mother’s favorites anymore because “it’s too much.”

But on Sunday, when he heard Mr. Fernández had died, he knew right away how he would spend his evening: the same way he and so many others had gotten through their first breakups and final goodbyes.

He scrolled through his playlist until he found “Hermoso Cariño.”

Precioso regalo Del cielo ha llegado Y que me ha colmado de dicha y amor

“Precious gift, from heaven it has come,” Mr. Fernández sang. “And that has filled me with happiness and love.”

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Vicente Fernandez: The 'King of Rancheras', legendary Mexican singer dies at 81

Lee en español

MEXICO CITY — Vicente Fernández, known as the “King of Rancheras”, died Sunday at 81 years of age in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, four months after being hospitalized and diagnosed with Guillen-Barré syndrome, his family announced in a statement.

“We regret to inform you of his death on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 6:15 am. It was an honor and a great pride for him to share his great musical career with everyone and to give everything for his audience. Thank you for continuing to applaud, thank you for continuing to sing", the family wrote via Fernández's social media accounts.

Fernández was hospitalized after he suffered a fall at his ranch Los Tres Potrillos just outside of Guadalajara in August, where the singer lived after he retired from the stage but not from the music scene since he continued recording and producing albums.

He remained in the hospital in the intensive care unit undergoing treatment and connected to a ventilator until the family shared the news of his passing.

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Prior to his surgery in August, Fernández wrote a message on his Instagram account that moved his fans, but also caused concern. 

“Don't give up on your dreams. Dedicating my life to singing was the best decision I could have made,” the singer wrote, finishing off with “Chente sigue siendo el rey,” an ode to his song that well established him as the “King of Rancheras.”

More: Legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernández hospitalized after a fall at his ranch

Chente recorded more than 100 albums, sold over 70 million copies, starred in 34 films in Mexican cinema and recorded more than 300 songs. He went on to produce great hits like "Volver, Volver," "Por Tu Maldito Amor," "Hermoso Cariño" and "El Rey," a song that very much does justice to his moniker as King of Rancheras.

“As long as you don't stop clapping, your Chente doesn't stop singing," he would tell his fans while he belted out his songs on stage. True to his word, he was known for having concerts that lasted at least 4 hours.

He did just that in 2016 when he said his goodbye to the stage during a free farewell concert in México City at Azteca Stadium. After that, he retired to his home where he never stopped producing music.

Fernández is survived by his wife Cuquita Abarca, his four children Vicente Jr., Gerardo, Alejandro, and Alejandra (his niece, whom he always considered his daughter), nine grandchildren (four children of Vicente Jr. and five of Alejandro) and four great-grandchildren.

The making of a legend

Throughout his career, Chente, as he is lovingly referred to by his fans, distinguished himself by taking Mexican music around the world throwing the longest concerts on the most renowned stages — making a name not only for himself but also for the popular love ballads and ranchera music that characterize México.

Five years after he announced his farewell from the stage, his songs continue to be an inspiration to people in Latin American countries, México and the U.S., shaping cultures and musical tastes as his rancheras cast stories of sorrow, hope, love and especially Mexican pride for all to enjoy.

Vicente Fernández Gómez was born on February 17, 1940, in Huentitán El Alto, Jalisco, the son of Ramón Fernández and Paula Gómez de Fernández. His first contact with music was in his first years of life, when his parents took him to the cinema to see Pedro Infante films. He quickly became a fan and learned Infante's songs.

At age 6 he told his mother that when he grew up he wanted to be just like Infante, a famous singer — a dream he would very much grow to accomplish. At age 8 he began guitar lessons.

In his biography, produced by Sony Music, he points out that in 1954 at the age of 14, he won an amateur singing contest in Guadalajara, playing at private parties and serenading young women alongside the mariachis of his town. But he combined these jobs with helping his father doing fieldwork and was not able at the time to dedicate himself fully to producing music.

Music: Songs give strength: Boxers, MMA fighters use Vicente Fernández's music to do their best in the ring

The success that he was having would lead him later to dedicate himself completely to singing and to travel regularly to México City, to the emblematic Plaza Garibaldi where popular restaurants such as "El Amanecer Tapatío" opened their doors to his musical talent.

In 1963, the same year that he lost his mother to a battle with cancer, Chente married his lifelong partner María del Refugio "Cuquita" Abarca Villaseñor. They would go on to have four children: Alejandro, Vicente, Alejandra and Gerardo. His estate in Guadalajara, Los Tres Potrillos, would be named after his love of horses and his three sons — the three foals. 

Two years later, in 1965, Fernández decided to try to record with a record company, although without much success since at that time strong figures in ranchera music such as Javier Solís were at the peak of their career success. In 1966, before the death of the great Solís, the record companies began to call on Fernández, who with his great voice was the ideal artist that would help preserve ranchera music.

It would be CBS — now Sony Music — who hired him, recording his first hits: “Tu Camino y El Mío,” “Perdóname” and “Cantina del Barrio”. It would be just the beginning, Fernández began with great success on radio and better sales on records. Albums like "Soy de Abajo", "Ni en Defensa Propia" and "Palabra de Rey" broke sales records in the genre.

One of Vicente's greatest successes is undoubtedly “Volver Volver”, a song composed by Fernando Z. Maldonado. The song became an anthem of ranchera music and in 1976 broke all sales records in North and South America, giving Fernández the title of "King of Rancheras."

Chente received countless honors , especially as his music made its way to the U.S.

He went on to win three Grammys. One in 2010 for Best Regional Mexican Album “Necesito de Ti.” Another in 2015 for the same category. And finally, in 2017, the recording of his final performance on stage in 2016, titled “Un Azteca en el Azteca (En Vivo),” landed him his last Grammy.

From 1989 to 2014, he was awarded eight Latin Grammys, 14 Premios Lo Nuestro awards and a handful of Billboard awards.

With his characteristic charro suit, wide brim hat and impeccable mariachi musicians at his side, he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest interpreters of mariachi in México and the world.

Watch CBS News

Legendary Mexican Entertainer Vicente Fernández Dies At 81

December 12, 2021 / 7:20 AM PST / KCAL News

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Legendary Mexican entertainer Vicente Fernández has died.

The singer's family announced his death on Instagram Sunday morning.

Fernández had been in poor health after a fall forced him to have surgery. In November, his team said that he required respiratory support.

Fernández earned three Grammys, eight Latin Grammys, and a star on the Walk of Fame.

He was 81 years old.

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Vicente “Chente” Fernández (1940–2021), beloved Mexican singer and actor

Vicente “Chente” Fern ández was an iconic Mexican singer and actor called “The King of Ranchero Music.”

• Died:  December 12, 2021 (Who else died on December 12? )
• Details of death:  Died of medical complications after a fall at the age of 81.
• We invite you to share condolences  for Vicente “Chente” Fernández in our Guest Book.

El Rey de la Música Ranchera

Fernández’ musical career took off when he released the single “Volver, Volver” (“Return, Return”) in 1976. It was a hit across Latin America and became a standard, covered by many artists in the years to come. He was already starring in movies then, and he would appear in more than two dozen films over 20 years, including “La Ley del Monte,” “El Abañil,” and “Coyote and Bronca.” Fernández retired from acting in 1991, but his musical career remained strong throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and beyond. He won three Grammy Awards, nine Latin Grammy Awards, and 14 Lo Nuestro Awards. Among his hit songs were “Aunque Mal Paguen Ellas,” “Lastima Que Seas Ajena,” “Para Siempre,” and “El Ultimo Beso,” a No. 1 hit on the Hot Latin Songs chart in 2009. Fernández played his farewell concert in 2016 to an audience of more than 80,000 people, but he continued to record until recently. His 2020 album “A mis 80s” won Fernández his final Latin Grammy Award less than a month before his death.

Notable quote

“I will not leave Mexico. From my country, they will only take me out feet first.” —from an interview for Televisa

Tributes to Vicente “Chente” Fern ández

TRISTE NOTICIA. Lamentablemente, falleció Don Vicente Fernández, uno de los máximos exponentes de la música mexicana. Con sus canciones e interpretaciones marcó a generaciones enteras. Nuestras condolencias a sus amigos y familiares. El adiós de un grande, de un ícono. QEPD. pic.twitter.com/oUB2rJ3EPH — Invictos (@InvictosSomos) December 12, 2021

The music world has lost an icon. The music of Vicente Fernández created memories for millions. We send our condolences to his family and all those who loved him. Vicente will be remembered for generations to come. — President Biden (@POTUS) December 13, 2021

The legend of all legends. You will be missed but never forgotten. Que disfrutes en los cielos y de un Tequilasoooo de Rey a Rey. Dale Maestro! #chentesiguesiendoelrey #VicenteFernandez pic.twitter.com/IJHZTrwofJ — Pitbull (@pitbull) December 12, 2021

This is what Vicente Fernandez’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame looks like right now pic.twitter.com/7KkzsbqHQF — Steve Saldivar (@stevesaldivar) December 12, 2021

Sad news today. We lost The amazing legendary Vicente Fernández this morning. One of my heroes. May he Rest In Peace and may God bless and comfort his family. Hasta la Cruz Chente!! gs — George Strait (@GeorgeStrait) December 12, 2021

RIP the goat! This is a real legend #VicenteFernandez pic.twitter.com/koVQprIBWL — Maxo (@mrcapper_) December 12, 2021

Today we lost someone who was with us when we celebrated life and when we felt like life was over. Vicente Fernandez “El Rey” will be loved, missed and celebrated forever! Thank you for the impact you made on my life. pic.twitter.com/juiEAaVOSx — G a b r i e l – I g l e s i a s (@fluffyguy) December 12, 2021

Saddened to hear of the passing of legendary singer Vicente Fernández. Recording "Regresa a Mí" at his beautiful home in Mexico and meeting his family was unforgettable and he will be missed. https://t.co/5tEgvkIQ8l — Tony Bennett (@itstonybennett) December 12, 2021

It's a sad day for my country. He wasn't just a musician, but an icon, a king and a legend to Mexico. He was the face of Mexican music. #VicenteFernandez you will truly be missed. RIP #VicenteFernandez 💜🙏 pic.twitter.com/vaRxv5SZ5n — Bardock 🇲🇽 (@SavageTiVi) December 12, 2021

Full obituary: Los Angeles Times

Linnea Crowther

News editor, Legacy.com. Named 2017's Obituary Writer of the Year by the Society of Professional Obituary Writers. Quoted by CNN, the New York Times, and Macleans.

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Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villasenor: Biography of Vicente Fernandez Wife

M aria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor, affectionately known as ‘Dona Cuquita,’ is the woman who stood by the side of the legendary Mexican actor, film producer, and singer, Vicente Fernandez, and helped build his empire.

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor is the First wife of Vicente Fernandez

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor hails from Mexico , just like her famous husband, Vicente Fernandez. Interestingly, they were neighbors during their early years, and Maria was even friends with Vicente’s younger sister. However, fate had something special in store for them.

One day, Vicente spotted Maria leaving church with her mother, and it was love at first sight. He was instantly smitten by her grace and charm. Without wasting any time, Vicente decided to marry Maria. As they say, love knows no bounds!

Famous as – Vicente Fernández’s wife

Nickname – Doña Cuquita

Date of birth – 23 July 1946

Place of birth – Mexico

Age – 76 years (as of December 2022)

Zodiac sign – Leo

Nationality – Mexican

Ethnicity – Latina

Religion – Christianity

Marital status – Widow

Spouse – late Vicente Fernández

Children – Alejandra, Gerardo, Alejandro, and Vicente Fernández

Hair colour – Light brown

Eye colour – Dark brown

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor Age and Nationality

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor was born on July 23, 1946, making her 76 years old today. She is a citizen of Mexico and holds Caucasian ethnicity. Maria is a firm believer in Jesus Christ.

Standing tall at 5 feet 5 inches, Maria is taller than most people realize. Her striking features include shiny brown hair and deep brown eyes that have undoubtedly captured many hearts.

Vicente’s love for Maria was unwavering. He couldn’t stop thinking about her after their chance encounter in church. He mustered the courage to present her with a beautiful flower, symbolizing her beauty. It marked the beginning of a beautiful love story.

Maria, however, made him wait for her answer regarding their future plans. She wanted to ensure Vicente was committed to both her and his career. Vicente, in turn, understood the importance of a stable job, so he moved to Mexico City and Tijuana in search of better opportunities.

Initially, Vicente was hesitant to marry Maria due to his demanding work schedule. He believed she deserved someone who could devote more time to her. But life took an unexpected turn when Vicente’s mother, Paula Gomez, passed away.

He saw Maria with her new boyfriend, and jealousy reared its head. In a bold move, Vicente gave Maria an ultimatum: marry him within 10 minutes or leave her new love interest. They tied the knot in 1963, embarking on a remarkable journey that lasted for over 57 years.

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor and Vicente Fernandez were blessed with four children: Gerardo Fernandez, Alejandro Fernandez, Alejandra Fernandez, and Vicente Fernandez Jr. Alejandro, like his father, pursued a successful career in singing and acting, adding another layer to the family’s legacy.

Maria’s commitment and dedication didn’t stop at love and family. She played a crucial role in her husband’s career, effectively managing his business affairs. Vicente was often busy with his performances, so Maria ensured that his singing career ran smoothly. Her unwavering support and hard work contributed significantly to building Vicente’s empire.

Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor Net Worth

As of 2022, Maria Del Refugio Abarca Villaseñor is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $5 million. Her family enjoys a comfortable and contented life, a testament to her dedication and the success they achieved together.

How did Vicente Fernández die?

He died in a hospital after staying there for several months because he fell at his ranch near Guadalajara. He had other health issues like liver and prostate cancer in the past.

Where was Vicente Fernández buried?

He was buried in a place called Los 3 Portillo, which is about 20 kilometers away from the Guadalajara-Chapala highway. It’s a big estate where his family has lived since 1980.