Freddy Fender died Saturday at his home in Corpus Christi, Texas according to a family spokesman.

Freddy Fender is famous for a number of acheivemnents, but one of the most popular is probably his #1 hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” which was done in a crossover into country music from his usual Tex-Mex style. Freddy also teamed up with Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven which contributed to his super stardome.

Freddy Fender began his career in the 1950’s as the “Bebop Kid” singing Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent covers translated into Spanish. Some of the more popular songs were “Don’t Be Cruel” and Harry Belafonte’s “Jamaica Farewell.” These along with Fender ’s other early bilingual rock ‘n’ roll songs from the 50’s era are included in the compilation “Canciones de Mi Barrio,” released in the early 1990’s.

Fender was at the top of his game in the 1970’s whith a significant release of the “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” album. In March of 1975 “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” in English and Spanish hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and the Top Country Singles, making it the most successful bilingual song by a Tex-Mex artist to date. Later that same year, the title track also hit No. 1 on Top Country Singles.

Fender had many more accomplishments from that point on including a few small film rolls, playing at the inaugural balls for Bush and Clinton, and winning his 3rd grammy in 2002.

Fender is survived by his wife Evangelina and several children, Freddy Fender died at the age of 69.

Source [MySA.com]

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 15th, 2006 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Singers. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Be sure to subscribe to the PopTherapy.com feed because it is really, really funny. Have something funny you want to share? Please let us know.