Vicente Fernández, the cowboy crooner who became known as El Rey, the king of Mexican ranchera music, performing traditional songs across Latin America and the United States with his operatic voice and sprawling mariachi group, died Dec. 12 at a hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico.
According to statements posted by his medical team on his official Instagram account, Fernández had been in and out of the intensive care unit since early August, after suffering a serious fall in his ranch and developing pneumonia.
Mexico is in mourning: The revered "king of ranchera music," Vicente Fernandez who won a dozen Grammys and Latin Grammys during his career died Sunday at 81.