Today Marks One Year Since Vicente Fernández, the ‘King of Rancheras,’ Has Died

Thousands of Vicente Fernández fans went to the “Los Tres Potrillos” ranch, his family’s home in Guadalajara, Mexico, to visit his grave and pay tribute one year after the legendary singer’s death.

The family of “El Charro de Huentitán” had scheduled two religious events on the anniversary of his death. The first, a private mass, and the second, a mass open to the public; the family of “Chente” will also offer a fair for the fans of the singer.

Fernández died Dec. 12, 2021 at the age of 81 after being hospitalized for four months.

Prior to his death, the artist had undergone surgery after a fall at home. He was said to be in “serious but stable” condition on a ventilator. Shortly after, a new condition was added to the diagnosis: Guillain-Barré syndrome, which made his recovery difficult.

“Chente,” as he was affectionately called by his millions of followers, retired from the stage at the beginning of 2015, after a farewell tour of almost three years. The tour was interrupted by surgery to remove a liver tumor. Before his farewell, he toured Mexico, the United States, Spain and Latin American countries.

From Humble Beginnings to Becoming a Mexican Icon

Vicente Fernández was born Feb. 17, 1940, in Huentitán el Alto, a town near Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco; the home of tequila, and mariachi.

From his humble beginnings, accustomed to earning his keep from a very young age doing various jobs, “Chente” admired Pedro Infante, another great Mexican actor, and dreamed of being like him.

When he was 21 years old while performing at the Amanecer Tapatío restaurant (singing both on stage and between the tables), he made his debut on the TV show “La Calandria Musical,” where he made his first paycheck as a performer. He earned 35 pesos (less than $2 at the current exchange rate).

Years later at the beginning of the 1970s, José Alfredo Jiménez died, and Vicente Fernández took over. His purpose: to prevent traditional ranchera music from being lost.

The song “Volver, volver” from the album ¡Arriba Huentitán! (1972) consolidated “Chente” as an idol, and was the first of a long list of musical successes in more than 80 albums, the first of which “El Fabuloso Vicente Fernández” dates to 1965.

For more than four decades, the voice of Vicente Fernández echoed in songs that are now in the public domain: “Tu camino y el mío” (1969), “Que Dios te perdone” (1977), “Mujeres divinas” (1988), “Acá entre nos” (1992), “Aunque mal paguen ellas” (2005) and “Estos celos” (2007), to name a few.

“As long as you don’t stop applauding, your ‘Chente’ doesn’t stop singing until they pay for what they paid for,” was a phrase that the singer coined and repeated in his marathon shows, whether they were in arenas, bullrings, stadiums and auditoriums.

Like Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernández ventured into cinema.

He made his 1971 debut in “Tacos al carbón,” and three years later, he starred in and composed the soundtrack of his first great success in film: “La ley del monte” (1974).

For twenty years he combined music with cinema, participating in more than 20 films before retiring from the silver screen in 1991.

The recognitions were present in the career of “Chente” Fernández, who received from Billboard and Grammy awards to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in 1998.

PHOTOS: Vicente Fernández Through the Years