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Vicente Fernandez music biography continued...

Mexico, Fernandez won an amateur contest sponsored by a Guadalajara television station in 1954 and began performing at local clubs and on 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. His big break came in 1966, when Javier Solis, Mexico's most popular traditional singer, died. To fill the void, CBS Mexico, now Sony Discos, offered Fernandez a recording contract. He released his first single "Perdoname," with the company in 1966, and never looked back. Since that time, Fernandez has recorded more than 50 albums on Sony Discos and contributed to 40 movies. Although less well known to English-speaking audiences, he has consistently filled stadiums and venues throughout his 35-plus years of performing and is known for his crowd-pleasing marathon concerts, not to mention recording sessions which stretch through the night. His repertoire is pure ranchera, a style described by Daniel Chang of the Miami Herald as representing "the Mexico of old--a way of life romanticized by rural ranches, revolution, and philandering caballeros."



By the end of the 1980s Fernandez had been a star for more than 20 years, yet he had never earned a major award. That all changed in 1990 when he recorded Vicente Fernandez y las clasicas de Jose Alfredo Jimenez, a tribute to Mexico's most famous songwriter, Jose Alfredo Jimenez. The album earned him Billboard and Univision's Latin Music Award for Mexican Regional Male Artist of the Year, which he won five times from 1989 through 1993. Other awards followed, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and recognition in 2002 as Latin Recording Academy as Person of the Year. With 43 million records sold, Vicente remains one of the most influential Mexican recording artists of all time.