Mariachi Legend Vicente Fernández Dies at 81, Months After Suffering Fall

Vicente Fernández will be remembered "Para Siempre."

On Sunday, the Grammy-winning mariachi legend died, four months after suffering from a fall that had him on a ventilator in the ICU, according to a post on his Instagram page.

"It was an honor and a great pride to share with everyone his great musical career. He gave everything to his audience," read the post, translated to English.

"Thank you for continuing to applaud, thank you for continuing to sing," the post concluded.

On Aug. 10, the ranchero star's family shared that he was in "serious but stable" and on a ventilator following a fall at his Guadalajara ranch.

"Love you dad," his son and fellow singer Alejandro Fernández wrote on Instagram following his health update.

Fernández — who was known as El Ídolo de México or the Mexican Idol —was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco where he began his career as a musician as a street performer. Signed to Mexico's CBS Records in 1966, he soon began his decades-long career in both music and acting.

In 1971, he released his first film Tacos al carbón but also starred in films such as La Ley del Monte and Por Tu Maldito Amor. His films were always laced with his mariachi songs and covers of old rancheras by artists such as José Alfredo Jiménez and Javier Solís.

Some of his most iconic songs include "Por Tu Maldito Amor," "Volver Volver," "Acá Entre Nos," "Hermoso Cariño," "Mujeres Divinas" and covers such as "El Rey" and "Camino de Guanajuato."

Despite his age, his new tracks continued to have success in both the U.S. and Mexico. Songs such as "La Derrota," "Estos Celos" and "Un Millón de Primaveras," which were released on his 2007 album Vicente Fernández Para Siempre, became hits late in his career. Many of his songs were featured as theme songs for telenovelas.

Throughout his life, Fernández won four Grammys, eight Latin Grammys and is responsible for writing some of the genre's biggest hits.

Fernández suffered a health scare in 2019 when he had a lump in his liver. At the time he received backlash after refusing a liver transplant saying he was concerned the donor could have been an "addict" or a "homosexual" person.

"They wanted to give me some other f—er's liver, and I told them 'I'm not going to sleep with my wife with another man's liver,'" Fernández said at the time on a Mexican TV program De Primera Mano. "I don't even know if he was homosexual or a drug addict."

Earlier this year, Fernandez was accused of sexual abuse by singer Lupita Castro and photos surfaced of him touching women inappropriately. He denied the accusations.

Fernández is survived by his children Alejandro, Vicente, Gerardo and Alejandra.