Vicente Fernandez

Since ancient times, music has walked with us the most important moments of our lives. It has created moments of happiness with their own soundtracks, it has shown us the words that we were desperately searching for. Music has helped us through bitter and sweet moments with sounds and words that remain in our hearts. 

Today we want to remember an exceptional musician who with his voice, his guitar and an elegant mariachi outfit, traveled the entire world. 

Vicente Fernández Gómez was born on February 17, 1940 and although by the end of his life, in December of 2021 he was a millionaire and a renowned Mexican folk interpreter, Chente actually came from a modest family in Huentitlán El Alto, a little town in the State of Jalisco, Mexico.

His life story is fascinating. From a very young age he discovered that he wanted to dedicate himself to entertainment. He used to go to the movies and watch the very praised films of the Mexican Gold Cinema Era, where stars like Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete starred. Eventually, one day he told his mother, "when I grow up I'm going to be like them."

And so he did. Vicente Fernandez starred in more than twenty films! To some extent, he reached the level of the celebrities he admired so much, but he also surpassed them.

One might think that with such a voice, the path to fame would have been easy, but he only managed to rise there once the singer Javier Solís passed away. So in 1966 Vicente Fernandez signed his first contract with CBS Mexico.

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With his first albums Mi Querido Viejo and Por tu Maldito Amor, Vicente became an iconic representative of Mexican folk. No one expected this artist to produce so many songs that would be part of the Soundtrack of our lives. Who has not cried while singing Volver Volver,Lástima que seas ajena or Me voy a quitar de en medio. 

Many people in Latin America and the United States grew up listening to these songs. 

"I remember that when I was 10 years old, my sister and I sang Mujeres at the top of our lungs. We danced and had fun and 11 years ago I went to see him in Denver and re-lived all that. I had a great time," Leticia Castro, Latina immigrant and American resident, shared with us.

We spent a while talking with friends about the subject and we decided to share with you a comment from one of our comadres. "I think that the beauty of his music is that although the lyrics were almost always for women or about hate and longing, in the end they were for the whole family, Vicente was for all generations.”

Some people believe that as long as a musician's songs keep playing, they stay alive. And if that’s the case, then Chente will be eternal.

It is said that Fernández's heyday was in the 1990s, the time of Mujeres divinas, Aquí entre nos and La mentira. But perhaps we should rethink the idea of ​​a boom and turn our attention to contemporary culture and his impact on it.

The music he played became tradition. It plays in our memories when we remember our parents and grandparents singing to their wives, we can see how our mothers' eyes shine when they hear the words of Hermoso Cariño and some remember our uncles and aunts a little drunk singing together El Rey.