Raul Malo, the lush-voiced singer and principal songwriter of the Mavericks whose expansive Latin-influenced sound breathed new life into American country music in the 1990s, died Monday. He was 60 years old.
His death was announced by the Mavericks on the group’s official Instagram page Tuesday morning. No further details were given.
Malo announced in June this year that he was suffering from stage four colon cancer. A few months later, he discovered he also had leptomeningeal disease, a condition in which cancer cells attack the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.
The quartet that would eventually become the Mavericks formed in Miami, United States, in the late 1980s as a bar band called The Basics. More rock than country, the group included Robert Reynolds on vocals and guitar, Malo on backing vocals and bass, Paul Deakin on drums and Ben Peeler on lead guitar.
It wasn’t until 1989, after Malo and Reynolds had switched roles, that the singer’s sonorous, vibrato-rich baritone emerged and helped create the Mavericks’ signature blend of country, rock and roll and Latin music.
In addition to being the band’s leader, singing with great range and versatility that drew comparisons to George Jones and Frank Sinatra, Malo also became its primary producer and songwriter. He wrote all of the band’s songs – except two on the Mavericks’ first two albums – including material about homelessness and his aunt’s experience as a Cuban emigrant in the United States.
Raul Malo expanded the group’s sonic palette to encompass a variety of styles, from “Cuban son” and mariachi trumpets to bel canto and Roy Orbison-style neo-operatic ballads. According to him, his musical syncretism came from his parents.
“They were young enough to introduce me to really good music,” Malo told NPR’s “Weekend Edition” in 2024. “My dad, for example, was a big country fan. My mom was a fan of rock ‘n’ roll, big band, swing and opera.”
Malo is survived by his mother, Norma; his wife, Betty Fernández Malo; three sons, Max, Vincent and Dino; and a sister, Carol.
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