Vicente Fernández Legendary Mexican ranchera singer dies at 81 after recent hospitalization

Vicente “Chente” Fernández, the legendary Mexican singer recognized for his signature charro suit and sombrero, has died, according to a post on his verified Instagram account. He was 81.

“It was an honor and an amazing delight to share with everybody a terrific musical profession and to offer every little thing for his audience,” read a post on Fernández’s account translated from Spanish. “Thanks for continuing to applaud, thanks for continuing to sing.” 

The singer died Sunday morning, the post stated. His son, Vicente Fernández Jr., thanked his father “for every little thing” in an Instagram tribute on Sunday alongside a photograph of the 2 of them smiling together.

“It’s with deep sadness that I obtain the information that one of the most vital artists of Mexican popular culture, the undisputed image of ranchera music, dies,” Alejandra Frausto, Mexico’s secretary of tradition, tweeted. “A million mariachis accompany you on your way. His infinite musical legacy will proceed to resonate strongly. ” 

Fernandez’s label Sony Music Entertainment México joined in the worldwide mourning over “the passing of the greatest icon of Mexico, Vicente Fernández” with an announcement on Sunday.

“At this time, Mexico is in mourning,” the statement read. “Recognized worldwide because the Nineties as the Frank Sinatra of ranchera music, Don Chente bids farewell to the audiences who honor the life and work of this supreme interpreter, the person who did things his method. Rest in peace, Vicente Fernández.”

The information comes 4 months after Fernández, often known as “El Rey de la Música Ranchera,” suffered a fall that caused a spinal cord injury. He underwent surgical procedure in Guadalajara, Mexico, in August and was on “ventilatory help and in critical patient care within the intensive care units,” based on a social media post on the time.

That wasn’t the first time Fernández struggled with his health.

In 2019, he revealed he had a cancerous lump in his liver, however controversially refused a liver transplant out of concern that his donor could possibly be a “gay” or an “addict.” 

“They wished to offer me another man’s liver, and I informed them ‘I am not going to sleep next to my spouse with another man’s liver,’ ” Fernández mentioned in 2019 on a Mexican TV program “De Primera Mano.”