Vicente' Fernandez
Reno Events Center
June 21, 2009
7:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Born in Huentitan el Alto, Jalisco, Mexico, Fernandez spent the early years of his life on his father Ramon's ranch on the outskirts of Guadalajara. Here the idyllic ranchera lifestyle was instilled in him. His mother often took him to see the films of Pedro Infante, the king of Mexican bolero. Fernandez told Leila Cobo of Billboard the significance of these films: "When I was 6 or 7, I would go see Pedro Infante's movies, and I would tell my mother, 'When I grow up, I'll be like them.'" By age eight he had taken up the guitar and was practicing his singing in the style of the ranchera singers he heard on the radio.
Early musical influences
In 1954, Fernandez won an amateur contest sponsored by a Guadalajara television station. It was his first break into performing and he began to play at local clubs and gatherings. Around this time, however, Fernandez's father lost the ranch and the family moved into the city of Tijuana. Fernandez, who had dropped out of school in the fifth grade, began working odd jobs in the city such as janitor, dishwasher, waiter--whatever he could find. All the while, he still held to his musical aspirations.
In 1960 Fernandez devoted himself to music full time. He went back to Guadalajara, where he performed in the streets for tips while also appearing occasionally on the television show La calandria musical. After a couple of years Fernandez tried his luck in Mexico City, where he found a job singing in a restaurant called El Amanacer Tapatio. When he wasn't working he was auditioning for recording companies--and constantly being turned down.
The time Fernandez spent in Mexico City was discouraging. By 1963 he left to marry a former neighbor, Maria "Cuca" de Refugio Abarca Villasenor. They now have four children, the oldest of which, Vicente, Jr., was born three months premature in 1963; Fernandez's mother died within a week of Vicente, Jr.'s, birth.
Contact Info
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Phone: (775) 787-8497
