How Did ‘The King of Rancheras’ Vicente Fernández Die?

How Did 'The King of Rancheras' Vicente Fernández Die

How Did ‘The King of Rancheras’ Vicente Fernández die? – The Mexican singer-songwriter Vicente Fernández Gómez also worked as an actor and producer of movies. Vicente Fernández, known by the monikers “Chente” (short for Vicente), “El Charro de Huentitán,” “El Idol de México,” and “El Rey de la Msica Ranchera,” began his career as a busker and went on to become a cultural icon, releasing more than 100 albums and appearing in more than 30 films. He played rancheras and other traditional Mexican music.

Four Grammy Awards, nine Latin Grammy Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame were all given to Fernández for his work. He became one of the most successful indigenous Mexican artists of all time after selling more than 50 million copies globally. Fernández stopped performing live in 2016, but he kept recording and publishing music. Vicente Fernández, a Mexican musician, passed away on December 12 at the age of 81.

Read Also: Is Netflix’s “El Rey, Vicente Fernández” a True Story?

How did Vicente Fernández die

Vicente Fernández Biography

Vicente Fernández, the son of a rancher and a housewife, was born on February 17, 1940, in the town of Huentitán El Alto, Jalisco. When he was between the ages of 6 and 7, he went with his mother to see movies featuring Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete. After watching a movie, he told his mother, “When I grow up I’m going to be like them.” 

After that, he developed a passion for music and was given a guitar when he was 8 years old. He learned to play the instrument at the same time that he started studying folk music.

After Fernandez finished elementary school, he and his family relocated to Tijuana as they had trouble making ends meet by selling milk from the animals on their property. Fernández started working at odd jobs as a teenager, including cabinetmaking, painting, and bricklaying. Since he sang while he worked, other construction firms wanted to hire him. Following these positions, his uncle’s restaurant hired him to work as a cashier. He began singing in restaurants and at weddings when he was 14 years old.

He soon joined various mariachi bands, including Mariachi de José Luis Aguilar and Mariachi Amanecer de Pepe Mendoza. He then started to get local recognition in Jalisco after participating in the radio show Amanecer Tapato. He made an appearance on the television program La Calandria Musical at the age of 21. It was his first paid performance.

Vicente, his first son, was born prematurely and had to be incubated at home because Fernández could not afford to pay the hospital. On December 27, 1963, he married Maria del Refugio Abarca Villaseor. His mother, who was 47, passed away from cancer in that year.

He relocated to Mexico City in 1965 to pursue a music career. Because Javier Sols was at the height of his fame, his first attempts to work with record labels were fruitless. There, he made arrangements to perform on a radio program for the then-most significant radio network in the nation, XEX-AM. In April 1966, a few days after Sols’ untimely passing, Fernández started receiving offers for records.

He signed his first recording contract with CBS México, the label of CBS Records International’s Mexican division, for whom he made albums including “Soy de Abajo,” “Ni en Defensa Propia,” and “Palabra de rey.” Both “Tu Camino y El Mó” and “Perdóname,” two of Fernández’s compositions, were both commercially and critically successful.

Surprisingly, he stated in a press conference on February 8, 2012, that he intended to stop performing live. He said, however, that he would still record albums and that his decision was not motivated by his health but rather by the desire to enjoy his job. Two months later, while on a farewell tour of the nation and Latin America, he and his son Vicente Jr. published the album Los 2 Vicente’s, which featured the series Amor bravo’s theme song.

How Did Vicente Fernández Die? Death Cause

Fernandez battled cancer twice, defeating prostate cancer in 2002 and undergoing liver tumor removal in 2012. He underwent surgery to remove abdominal hernias in 2015 and experienced a thrombosis in 2013 that momentarily took away his voice. In 2012, he decided to decline a liver transplant. He was given a two-day hospital stay in 2021 to treat a urinary tract infection, when Guillain-Barré syndrome was discovered.

On August 6, 2021, Fernández fell at his ranch in Guadalajara and was taken to the hospital. He was put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit due to a cervical spine injury. He received a Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosis two weeks later, and on August 13, he started receiving treatment. Vicente, his son, told the media that it was an illness unrelated to the accident he experienced.

He was discharged from intensive care on October 26, 2021, after his clinical condition improved. He was once more hospitalized to intensive care on November 30, 2021, due to a pneumonia-related health issue. His son once more stated in an interview on December 11 that his father was being drugged due to a deterioration in his condition.

At the age of 81, Fernández passed away from complications related to his wounds on December 12, 2021. In a tweet sent out in response to his passing, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador referred to Fernández as the “symbol of the ranchera song of our time, known and recognized in Mexico and abroad.” Iván Duque, the president of Colombia, said, “His departure hurts us, and his legacy will be alive forever.”

In contrast, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, remarked, “The world of music has lost an icon.” Leaders from around the world, including Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, Claudia Sheinbaum, the mayor of Mexico City, lvaro Uribe, and Evo Morales, the former presidents of Colombia and Bolivia, also expressed their condolences on Twitter. Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state for the United States, described Fernandez as “a musical icon and a good man.” He passed away on the day of Mexico’s patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom Fernández had a deep devotion.

The artist’s Arena VFG, which he dedicated to his hometown of Guadalajara, received Fernández’s body after it was taken from the funeral home, where his family and at least 6,000 fans had already gathered. His Mariachi Azteca played songs like “El Rey” and “Acá Entre Nos.” The casket containing his remains was put in the center of the stage, which had been transformed into an altar. A big crucifix presided over the scene, and to one side of the coffin was an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. His favorite sombrero lay on the casket encircled by a sea of white flowers.

The Catholic funeral was held at the same arena the next day. Songs from his most well-known rancheras were interspersed throughout the ceremony, concluding with “Volver volver” live, as he had requested. His body was transported to his property, where he was interred in a mausoleum.

Netflix has revealed an official trailer for El Rey, a new series based on the life and career of iconic Mexican singer Vicente Fernández.