Vicente “Chente” Fern\u00e1ndez was born on February 17, 1940 in the town of Huentitan El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico. The son of Ramon Fern\u00e1ndez and Paula Gomez de Fern\u00e1ndez, he was only six years old when he began to dream of a career as a singer. At just eight-years-old he received a guitar and quickly learned to play it and began to study folk music.<\/p>\n
At 14, his ambition led him to enter an amateur contest in Guadalajara, where he won first place. With that confidence, he began to play locally in restaurants and weddings, for groups of family and friends. Even from early on, Fern\u00e1ndez had a drive to succeed. Despite the obstacles, his determination led him on a trajectory that would become a story of triumph.<\/p>\n
His mother died of cancer in 1963 at the age of 47. Later that same year, he married Mar\u00eda del Refugio “Cuquita” Abarca Villase\u00f1or, a neighbor from Guadalajara. Soon the couple would have four children: Vicente, Gerardo, Alejandro and Alejandra.<\/p>\n
In late 1965, he began making visits to different record companies. He was always turned down, but he began to hang around the CBS Studios regardless, hoping to get an audition. Eventually, Fern\u00e1ndez was airplay on XEX, Mexico’s number one radio station. Through XEX he was able to reach larger audiences and began to establish local fame.<\/p>\n
A few months later, Fern\u00e1ndez’s luck would change forever. In 1966, Javier Solis, the most popular “bolero ranchero” singer in Mexico at the time, died of complications from a gallbladder operation. It was the third time in thirteen years that Mexico had lost a national hero. But eight days after Solis’ death, things changed for Vicente Fern\u00e1ndez and several of the same record companies that had turned him down just a few months earlier began calling him. It was in the summer of 1966 when Fern\u00e1ndez signed his contract and recorded his first hits: “Tu Camino y El Mio,’ ‘”Perd\u00f3name,” and “Cantina del Barrio”.<\/p>\n
Despite Fern\u00e1ndez’s increasing popularity, he was not yet a household name. But that would change forever\u2014in 1976, songwriter Fernando Z. Maldonado composed a song with a different theme, describing a macho man who accepts his guilt in a sentimental relationship. The theme may have been new, but the song made an impact: “Volver, Volver” became another ranchera music anthem.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the King of Ranchera Music has won many awards, including the Latin Grammy (2008), Premios Lo Nuestro (2009), Premios Billboard (2009), and four Premios Oye (2008). In addition, he was nominated for the prestigious Premios Juventud by Univision in 2009.<\/p>\n
On February 14, 2009, Vicente Fern\u00e1ndez managed to break the attendance record in Mexico City’s Zocalo, filling the Zocalo’s main square with almost 220,000 people who were able to enjoy and chant the great hits of the charro from Huentitan.<\/p>\n
On August 7, 2021, he was urgently admitted to Country 2000 Hospital in Guadalajara after suffering an accidental fall that injured his cervical vertebrae, being taken to the intensive care area. After being hospitalized for more than 128 days, Fern\u00e1ndez passed away on December 12 at the age of 81.<\/p>\n