Raul Malo, frontman for much-loved long-running country band the Mavericks, has passed away. In an Instagram statement, the band says that Malo died on Monday: "Though his earthly body may have passed, Raul’s spirit will live on forever in heaven, and here on earth through the music, joy, and light he brought forth. His contributions to American and Latin music will be everlasting, as his songs and voice touched fans and fellow artists around the world." As Rolling Stone reports, Malo had been battling colon cancer and leptomeningeal disease. Malo was 60.
Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr., the son of Cuban immigrants, grew up in Miami. He formed the Mavericks along with guitarist Ben Peeler, bassist Robert Reynolds, and drummer Paul Deakin in 1989, and they released their self-titled debut on a local independent label one year later. The group's lineup shifted over the years, but Malo and Deakin remained constants. While the Mavericks' musical inclinations leaned toward early rock 'n' roll and traditional country, all the songs on that LP are originals, and Malo wrote all of them. MCA Nashville singed the Mavericks after they played an independent showcase.
The Mavericks' 1991 major-label debut From Hell To Paradise integrated Latin music in innovative ways, and its title track was Malo's account of his parents leaving Cuba for Miami. They took a more radio-friendly turn on their 1994 LP What A Crying Shame, which did well both commercially and critically. The title track, which Malo co-wrote, was a sleeper hit on country radio, and it won a Grammy. The album went platinum. 1995's Music For All Occasions, which went gold, included "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," a collaboration with the Tejano accordion player Flaco Jiménez, which became the band's biggest-ever country radio hit. Malo co-wrote that one, too. 1998's Trampoline didn't sell as well in the US, but the single "Dance The Night Away" became a top-10 hit in the UK.
The Mavericks took a bit of a hiatus after Trampoline. Raul Malo released a number of solo albums, starting with 2001's Today, and joined the Latin country supergroup Los Super Seven. The Mavericks returned in 2003, releasing a second self-titled album independently. After another hiatus, they came back with the 2013 LP In Time, and they remained active after that. They toured heavily and racked up a few more Grammy nominations in the Americana category. Earlier this year, the Mavericks were part of Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival tour, but they canceled their remaining dates when Malo announced that his cancer was getting worse. This past weekend, the band played a pair of emotional Malo tribute shows at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, with other artists standing in for Malo.
In his work with the Mavericks and on his own, Raul Malo tapped into a deep tradition of roots music and showed just how close country, rock, and Latin traditions always were to one another. He had a beautiful, soulful, unshowy voice, and he wrote some great songs. Check out some of his work below.
