Johnny Rodriguez, a trailblazing Mexican American country music star whose folksy storytelling propelled him to fame in the 1970s, has died, according to reports. He was 73.
His daughter, Aubry Rodriguez, confirmed his May 9 death to the Washington Post and Associated Press, citing health complications, and revealing he was in hospice care. A specific cause of death was not released.
Born just east of the Mexico border in Sabinal, Texas, Rodriguez became the first Mexican American artist to make a splash in the American country music scene. The second youngest of 10 children in a four-bedroom home, he gained local renown singing in church. By his later teenage years, he was playing country and Mexican music and covering Beatles hits in local bars.
Infusing Spanish language and Latin influence into his music, his debut album “Introducing Johnny Rodriguez” was nominated for album of the year at the 1974 Academy of Country Music Awards. He had won most promising male vocalist the year prior.
With popular tracks like “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico” and “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind,” Rodriguez endeared himself to fans with slow but soaring vocals, nailing the genre’s signature narrative constructions. In the style of John Denver or Merle Haggard, he laid out a story of the blues or of new love clearly, canonizing himself as a classic cowboy crooner.
In 2007, Rodriguez was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2010 received the Institute of Hispanic Culture Pioneer Award, honoring his decades of country stardom.
Discovered first behind bars, when his singing caught the ears of a well-connected local businessman, Rodriguez’s brushes with the law did not end even as he reached peak success.
In 1998, Rodriguez, back in his native San Marcos, shot and killed 28-year-old Israel Borrego. According to Uvalde County district attorney Tony Hackebeil, Rodriguez, who had been drinking, believed his acquaintance, Borrego, whose blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, to be a burglar. Fifteen months later, Rodriguez was acquitted of murder by a jury.
Rodriguez’s love life was also marked by tumult. He married Linda Patterson in 1976 — they divorced by 1979. Two decades later, in 1995, he married Willie Nelson’s daughter, Lana. That marriage lasted seven months. In 1998, he married Debbie McNeely. McNeely gave birth to their daughter, Aubry Rae Rodriguez, in April of that year.
By August 1998, McNeely and Rodriguez had parted ways. According to Texas Monthly reporting, the singer returned to the same San Marcos land where he was raised, but had torn down his original home to build a new one during his career’s height.
Contributing: Marcus K. Dowling, The Nashville Tennessean
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