Freddy Fender, the ”Bebop Kid” of the Texas-Mexico border who later turned his twangy tenor into the smash country ballad Before the Next Teardrop Falls, died on October 14. He was 69.
Fender, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2006, died at noon at his Corpus Christi home with his family at his bedside, said Ron Rogers, a family spokesperson.
Over the years, he grappled with drug and alcohol abuse, was treated for diabetes and underwent a kidney transplant.
Fender hit it big in 1975 after some regional success, years of struggling — and a stint in prison – when Before the Next Teardrop Falls climbed to number one on the pop and country charts.
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights rose to number one on the country chart and top 10 on the pop chart that same year, while Secret Love and You’ll Lose a Good Thing also hit number one in the country charts.
Born Baldemar Huerta, Fender was proud of his Mexican-American heritage and frequently sung verses or whole songs in Spanish.
”Whenever I run into prejudice,” he told the Washington Post in 1977, ”I smile and feel sorry for them, and I say to myself, ‘There’s one more argument for birth control’.”
He won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2002 for La Musica de Baldemar Huerta. He also shared in two Grammys: with the Texas Tornados, which won in 1990 for best Mexican-American performance for Soy de San Luis, and with Los Super Seven in the same category in 1998 for Los Super Seven.
Among his other achievements, Fender appeared in the 1987 motion picture The Milagro Beanfield War, directed by Robert Redford.
In February 1999, Fender was awarded a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame after then-Texas Governor George Bush wrote to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce endorsing him.
Fender was born in 1937 in San Benito, the South Texas border town credited for spawning the Mexican-polka sound of conjunto. The son of migrant workers who did his own share of picking crops, he also was exposed to the blues sung by blacks alongside the Mexicans in the fields.
Always a performer, he sang on the radio as a boy and won contests for his singing — one prize included a tub full of about $10 worth of food.
But his career really began in the late ’50s, when he returned from serving in the Marines and recorded Spanish-language versions of Elvis Presley’s Don’t Be Cruel and Harry Belafonte’s Jamaica Farewell. The recordings were hits in Mexico and South America.
Fender’s later years were marred by health problems resulting in a kidney transplant from his daughter, Marla Huerta Garcia, in January 2002 and a liver transplant in 2004. Fender was to have lung surgery in early 2006 until surgeons found tumours.
”I feel very comfortable in my life,” Fender told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in August. ”I’m one year away from 70 and I’ve had a good run. I really believe I’m OK. In my mind and in my heart, I feel OK. I cannot complain that I haven’t lived long enough, but I’d like to live longer.”
Rogers said Fender will be brought back to San Benito for a funeral and memorial services. Details on the arrangements were pending. — Sapa-AP