Alejandro Fernández honored his father, Vicente Fernández, with a heartfelt Instagram post in which he thanked him for “showing me the way.”
Following Fernández’s death on Dec. 12 at age 81 in a hospital in Guadalajara, Alejandro — one of Fernández’s four children — took to social media, where he wrote: “The lights in the sky have never shined so bright. Without a doubt, I couldn’t have asked for a better father, friend and teacher. Thank you for showing me the way. Although we’ll miss you every day, your spirit and voice will live forever in your family, your pueblo and your fans. Love you, pa.”
The 50-year-old artist ended his tribute by asking his father to show them in heaven how to “produce a good palenque (concert) so they can celebrate your arrival. Safe travels, my beloved old man.”
The Fernández family confirmed the death of the Mexican ranchera legend, known as El Rey, via an official statement posted on social media minutes after his passing. “Rest in peace, Sr. Vicente Fernández. We regret to inform you that he passed away Sunday, December 12 at 6:15a.m. It was an honor sharing with you all a great musical trajectory when he gave it his all to his fans. Thank you for your applauses, and for always singing along.”
Later in the day, Fernández’s body was taken to his ranch in Guadalajara, Los 3 Potrillos, where they opened doors to fans so they could say their goodbyes to the icon. There, a mariachi performed all of Fernández’s biggest hits, including “Hermoso Cariño,” “El Rey” and “Amor de los Dos,” which was sung by an emotional Alejandro while hugging his mother Doña Cuquita.
Most recently, Alejandro and his father had recorded their second duet, “Mentí,” which was included in Alejandro’s 2020 chart-topping set Hecho En México.
“When I was showing my dad the new album I told him, ‘Do you realize that we’ve only recorded one song together once and it was at the very beginning of my career and we never did it again?’” Alejandro previously told Billboard. “So I suggested that it would be cool if he could support me by recording another duo for this album, especially since it was my return to Mexican music.”
They recorded “Mentí,” the song his father picked out of the 11 tracks in the album. “He loved that song and he went on to record his part in a day,” Alejandro recalled. “I had to hand over the album in two days so he got to work and was able to finish right on deadline. It worked out perfectly.”
