Music History
Freddy Fender’s Journey from the South Texas Border to Country Music History
By Veronique Medrano · 5 min read
From the South Texas border to the top of the country charts, Freddy Fender created a groundbreaking legacy that deserves recognition in Nashville.
On June 3,2022, I pressed publish on a Change.org petition titled: Induct Mexican-American Freddy Fender into the Country Music Hall of Fame and what would come next was a blur. The petition took off like wild-fire on social media and gained traction from the press because for the first time in the 16 years since his passing someone pointed out that the Country music industry had overlooked one of its biggest icons.
The public assumed that Fender had already been inducted because he was part of the Hall of Fame’s Museum exhibit highlighting the handful of artists who achieved cross-over success. The case is titled “Country Goes Pop”. If you look at the informational placards for each artist in the case you’ll notice that every other artist has mark alongside their name that states they’ve been inducted. Each artist had an induction except for…Freddy Fender.
Prior to the petition, a 2020 article by Billboard titled, “You Won’t Believe These 30 Artists Aren’t Already in the Country Music Hall of Fame”. Fender’s name was mentioned alongside 30 other artists like: The Judds (2021), Jerry Lee Lewis (2022), Patty Loveless (2023), Tanya Tucker (2023), Toby Keith (2024), Kenny Chesney (2025), and Tim McGraw (2026). These artists were those who the public assumed were inducted but were not.
**The number that follows the name is the year the artist mentioned on that list was inducted in the Hall of Fame since the article’s release.**
Saving Country Music’s article about our campaign to get Freddy Fender inducted said:
“Considering that Freddy Fender would be going in via the Veteran’s Era category, and with the stacked list of contenders ahead of him based on a host of factors including the rumors of the names on the final ballots over the last five years, those looking to induct Fender in the Country Music Hall of Fame should realistically consider it to be at least five years out, and only then be considered as a possibility only with a constant and dedicated campaign.”
“Why does Freddy Fender deserve to be inducted? The answer starts at the impact point: the 1974 release of ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ — and the 20 country hits that followed it.”
The Campaign Grows
It is 2026 and we are one year away from that 5 year mark they spoke of.
The following is what has taken place in that time:
- (2022) – 1,000 signatures: The campaign started receiving local coverage.
- (2023) – 5,000 signatures: Received support from the Freddy Fender’s Estate and Fender was honored by the State with a Texas Historical Commission Marker.
- (2023) – 10,000 signatures: Meetings with State officials on how they could help boost the Campaign as well as submitting Freddy Fender for induction into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
- (2023/2024) – 13,000 Signatures: Received coverage on National Country Radio and a response from the CMA on putting Freddy Fender up for consideration
- (2025) – 14,000 Signatures: Freddy Fender is inducted into the Library Congress National Recording Registry.
Advocating for an artist who has passed is not an easy task, but Vangie Huerta, and her daughter Marla, have championed the full scope of Freddy’s artistic career, through the family’s meticulous archive. Keeping track of films, accolades, interviews and thousands of artifacts that we recently curated for exhibition in 2024 titled: “Freddy Fender: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Baldemar Huerta”. It allowed us to publicly showcase their work to the world. A family archive so vast and priceless to our advocacy.
This year we partnered with the City of San Benito to reopen the Freddy Fender Museum, which had been closed for over 5 years. Our Grand Re-Opening for this Museum had people wrapped around the block waiting to see the newly remodeled space and celebrate alongside us and his former band mates. It rained, but the celebration shined. The Huerta family got to see and take part in the celebration and we’re already planning something wonderful for his 90th Birthday next year.
I carry a huge sense of pride working as a historian and writing about what I’ve learned about Baldemar Huerta, the man who the world would know as Freddy Fender. Huerta leveraged his fame as “Freddy Fender” for philanthropic endeavors that greatly affected the Rio Grande Valley, before there was ever a water tower with his face on it. His works in life that carried and celebrated arts in the valley inspire me to see a different musical path beyond the ones I’ve known most of my life. I call Brownsville, twenty miles from San Benito, my home. I am not related to Freddy or his family and while I have not been a fan since birth, I have been aware of him and his music for as long as I can remember the soundtracks of Sunday morning house cleaning growing up. This all adds up to a Tejano singer-songwriter who transitioned to Country music, TexMex style, and drew upon a legacy of musical excellence that had left a lasting impression by being the true definition of being “Puro 956” wherever he was.
Making a Dream a Reality
I strongly believe that we should celebrate his contributions and his success. He was the spokesperson for multiple national brands like: McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Lone Star. Fender was an artist whose voice and image was used by the Country Music industry to bring more minority fans to the genre. Don’t get me wrong, many artists have made inroads for Mexican and Latino(e) artists. But only one entered the space as a bilingual artist singing both English and Spanish. Only one was awarded the Billboard Trendsetter Award for introducing TEXMEX music into the pop marketplace, an award currently housed at the Crazy Cajun Record Label in Houston Tx. He is still, to this day, the only Hispanic entertainer to win both the ACM and CMA. Even then, these accolades barely touch the surface of how impactful he was in Nashville and around the world.
Fan support has been the necessary fuel to continue the work because as his family says, “It was the fans who made Freddy…not the industry.” Cover songs, informational history short and long form videos, scholarly articles, entertainment write-ups, and every other bit of work that is made by folks wanting to keep Freddy Fender’s legacy alive. Working so closely with the estate has given me an intimate understanding of the effort that goes into preserving and celebrating someone who belongs to the world. No matter how long or brief, when someone impacts swaths of people generation upon generation, it leaves one in awe of the power of art. The power of music.
To this day, over twenty years since his interview with the Associated Press, where he told AP that the one thing that could make his musical career complete was induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Declaring that, “”Hopefully, I’ll be the first Mexican-American going into Hillbilly Heaven…”, no Mexican-American or Latino(e) has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The South Texas singer-songwriter, known by many in country music for classics like Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights, Secret Love and Hey Baby, Que Paso, experienced success spanning over four decades. The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Aerosmith are the caliber of artist to also achieve this same kind of timeless success. He also had hundreds of awards and accolades, from Grammy Awards to Presidential Commendations; Fender could be described as one of the most highly decorated country singer/songwriters. In the past five years, I stopped asking, “Why isn’t Freddy Fender inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame?” Instead I am left wondering, “How much must an Artist achieve before their work is given the honor that is plain to see that they deserve?”
If you haven’t signed the petition please do so at the following link:
Petition Induct Mexican-American Freddy Fender into the Country Music Hall of Fame
Read more on Freddy Fender's musical history at:
WIDE OPEN COUNTRY: Freddy Fender Made History and Inspired a Generation. Why Isn't He in the Country Music Hall of Fame?
Texas Highways Magazine: Freddy Fender’s Remarkable Run From Bebop Kid to Texas Tornado
The Valley Morning Star: Honoring ‘El Bebop Kid’: Tejano singer pushes for Freddy Fender’s Country Music Hall of Fame induction
Written By
Veronique Medrano
Historian, Writer, and Artist out of Brownsville, Texas — Veronique’s writing covers explores music, memory, culture and places that shape the Mexican American experience.