Freddy Fender

Country Singer, Musician. Born Baldemar Huerta Spouse Evangelina (Vangie) Huerta, his best known hit song was “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” a No. 1 hit on both Billboard magazine’s country and Hot 100 charts in 1975. The song sold one million copies and was awarded the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year in 1975. Texas Governor George Bush wrote the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce endorsing Fender, of which he was awarded a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he appeared in the 1987 motion picture “The Milagro Beanfield War.” His hopes were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.

On 13 March 2001 Freddy Fender was erroneously reported to be dead by Billboard Magazine. He laughed off the magazine’s error. He underwent a kidney transplant in 2002 with a kidney donated by his daughter and underwent a liver transplant in 2004. Nonetheless, his condition continued to worsen. He was suffering from an “incurable cancer” in which he had tumors on his lungs. On 31 December 2005, Fender performed his last concert and resumed chemotherapy.

He died Oct. 14, 2006 at the age of 69 of lung cancer at his home in Corpus Christi, Texas, with his family at his bedside. He was buried in his hometown of San Benito.