Johnny Rodriguez, Country Music Star, Dies at 73

Johnny Rodríguez, who became the first star of American country music with a series of successes, died on Friday. He was 73 years old.

His daughter, Aubry Rodríguez, announced his death on social networks on Saturday. The publication did not cite a cause of death.

Mr. Rodríguez jumped to fame in the 1970s and was well known for the successes “Ridin” my thumb to Mexico “and” you always return (to hurt me). “He launched six singles that reached No. 1 on the list of Billboard Country songs, and another nine reached Top 10.

In 2007, Mr. Rodríguez was included in the Hall of Fame of Texas country music, which described him as the “major and memorable country singer of all time.”

Juan Raoul Davis Rodríguez was born from Andrés Rodríguez and Isabel Davis on December 10, 1951 in Sabinal, Texas, around 65 miles to the west or San Antonio. Mr. Rodríguez, the second youngest of 10 children, began playing the guitar at the age of 7 when his older brother, Andrés, bought one.

His father died of cancer when Mr. Rodríguez was 16 years old, around the moment Mr. Rodríguez formed a band, and the young Andrés died the following year in a car accident. The losses sent to Mr. Rodríguez “in a spiral”, according to the Texas Country Music Hall.

Mr. Rodríguez had the jail in jail when he was 18 so it is said that it is an unpaid fine. He would spend time in the cell singing and was heard by Joaquín Jackson, a Texas ranger, that any Vally helped find Mr. Rodríguez as a job as a singer and internship driver in the Aldea de Alamo, then a popular tourist attraction in Texas.

Country musicians Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare listened to Mr. Rodríguez to act in the Alamo in 1971 and invited him to Nashville. Mr. Rodríguez, who was then 20, brought only his guitar and $ 14. Shortly after his arrival, he became a main guitarist in Mr. Hall’s band.

In 1973, Mr. Rodríguez launched his simple debut and his first top 10 single, “Pass Me by (if you are just happening)”. His next three singles: “You always come back (to hurt me)”, “Ridin” my thumb to Mexico “and” This is love “, everything headed the table.

He was also nominated for the vocalist of the year of the Country Music Association in 1973 and won the Billboard Trend Setter for First Mexican American to capture a national audience.

In 1979, Mr. Rodríguez separated with his record label, Mercury, and signed with Epic. Three of his most songs, “Down on the Rio Grande”, “Foolin” “and” How I could love her so much “, then reached the Top 10. The continuum making music in the 1990s.

In 1999, a jury acquired Mr. Rodríguez or killed in the murder of an acquaintance who said a thief. The acquaintance, Israel Borrego, 26, was a deadly shot once in the abdomen in 1998 at Mr. Rodríguez’s house in Sabinal. Mr. Rodríguez’s lawyers argued that he was justified under Texas’s law to defend himself and his property.

The singer, who faced all his life in prison, rested his face in his hands when the verdict was announced. “I’m sorry that the entire incident took place,” he said. “I don’t want to go through something like that again.”

In 2010, he received the Pioneer Prize from the Institute of Hisan Culture, and in 2019, he received the Living Legend Prize from the Texas Country Music Association. He released 35 albums in his four decades career.

Mr. Rodríguez survives his two sisters, Antonia and Eloisa, and his daughter, Aubry Rodríguez. His marriage to Debbie McNeely ended in divorce.

Duration An interview in 2019, Mr. Rodríguez advised the young artists to write their own material.

“It separates you from everyone else,” he said. “If you are really honest about it, that is the most difficult part,” he added. “It’s like taking off your clothes in front of someone.”