Alberto Vazquez

Alberto Vazquez stands as a celebrated and commercially dominant figure in Mexican music. While his reputation rests foremost on rancheras and corridos of lasting influence, his catalog of several hundred recordings also encompasses pop, rock, disco, and easy-listening material that repeatedly reached the charts. Among his successful singles are “Ausente,” “Olvidalo,” “Pecador,” and “Rogaciano.” He collaborated on compositions with José Alfredo Jiménez, among them “Ella” and “El Jinete.”

Born in 1940, Vazquez began performing at six, drawing early inspiration from the ranchera vocalists of the 1920s and 1930s. He studied music and painting at the academy of San Carlos and later at Esmerelda. Festival appearances formed a central part of his early work; at seventeen he won a Radiolandia-sponsored competition held at the Teatro Alameda by performing “Sixteen Tons” and “Las Hojas Muertas.” At eighteen he captured a Golden Gloves boxing title.

Rather than continuing directly into college, he established himself through club work in Mexico City. At twenty-one he secured headlining engagements at the Cadillac and Afro venues and launched his recording career under the artistic direction and production of Memo Acosta Segura. Their first single, “El Pecador,” became an unexpected success that brought instant prominence, followed by the major hit “Perdóname Mi Vida.” Vazquez frequently interpreted outside material; while contemporaries such as César Costa and Enrique Guzmán reproduced leading American hits, he recorded Spanish-language versions of Pat Boone’s “Happiness Came” and John Gary’s “Forget It,” both of which charted in Mexico. Between the 1962 album Ritmos Juveniles and the 1994 release Cosas De, every record he issued for labels including Musart, Melody International, and Epic reached the charts in Mexico or South America, achieved multimillion sales, and supported worldwide touring.

A parallel acting career began with the 1962 film A Ritmo de Twist and ultimately encompassed more than twenty-five motion pictures. Among them were La Edad de la Violencia in 1964, Me Quiero Casa in 1967, Faltas a la Moral in 1970, Caín, Abel y el Otro in 1971, and Amor a Navaja Libre in 1982. He also accumulated dozens of television credits, including recurring parts in three telenovelas between 1973 and 2001.

In 2006 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammys. Vazquez remains active as a performer and guide to emerging artists.