Vicente Fernandez Net Worth | The King of Ranchera Music

Fernandez Net Worth and Retirement

Vicente Fernandez is a prolific musician and performer. He's won lots of prestigious awards and has been a household name in Mexico and the United States for over three decades. He has officially retired but has a cool $25 million in the bank to keep him afloat throughout his golden years. He is truly the El Rey de la Música Ranchera (The King of Ranchera Music)!

Vicente Fernandez Life Growing Up

Vicente "Chente" Fernández Gómez was born in February of 1940 in a suburb of Huentitan El Alto in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Chente spent his youth with his dad (Ramon) on a ranch on the borders of Guadalajara.

Vicente has worked in many different roles including working as a dishwasher, waiter, cashier, and manager of his extended family's restaurant. Fernandez was fond of living on the ranch. His mother often took him to watch Pedro Infante films.

Vicente would tell his mom that he would grow up to be like Pedro and soon after he began learning how to play guitar and would copy the style of singers he heard on ranchera radio stations.

When he was 12 he entered a contest in Arandas, Mexico where he won some Pesos. As a teenager, he got a big break after being a contestant hosted by a Guadalajara television station. Soon after Chente began playing at parties and clubs in his area.

Tragedy struck and the family lost the ranch. The Gomez family relocated to Tijuana where Vicente quit school when he reached fifth grade. He held onto his musical dreams but worked as a waiter, janitor, and dishwasher to help his family.

When he was 12 he entered a contest in Arandas, Mexico where he won some Pesos. As a teenager, he got a big break after being a contestant hosted by a Guadalajara television station. Soon after Chente began playing at parties and clubs in his area.

Mexico City and Disappointments

In 1960, Fernández returned to Jalisco and invested himself fully in his musical career. He busked to support himself and held a recurring role on the Mexican tv show 'La Calandria Musical.'

A few years later he relocated to Mexico City where he was hired to sing at the 'El Amanacer Tapatio' restaurant. When he wasn't busting his butt at work, he was honing his craft, and auditioning all the time for record labels.

After many years of disappointing auditions, Chente left the big city to marry Maria del Refugio 'Cuca' Abarca Villasenor and they had three sons together. The same week in 1963 his son Vicente Junior was born his mother died.

El Rey de la Música Ranchera

Javier Solís died in the spring of 1966 leaving Mexico to mourn their most popular, traditional singer. Luckily for Chente the Mexican arm of CBS Records International, Discos CBS offered Chente a recording contract. The company has since changed hands and is now 'Sony Music Latin or Sony Entertainment.' Decades later and Fernandez still records with his original label.

In 1971, Chente landed his first role in the hit film 'Tacos al Carbon' and he completed the project for the movie. He's been in multiple films but stopped appearing in movies and television in 1991.

The prolific musician has recorded more than 50 albums in less than four decades and has recorded over 300 tunes. Fernández's biggest hit was 1972's 'Volver, Volver.' Vicente Fernandez's first seven-digit sales happen with '15 Grandes con el numero uno' in 1983.

A Multi-platinum Recording Artist and Grammy Winner

Vicente has won many awards, including winning the 'Billboard and Univision's Latin Music Award for Mexican Regional Male Artist of the Year', five times from 1989 to 1993. He's also been indoctrinated into the Billboard's Latin Music Hall of Fame, the Latin Recording Academy's Person of the Year, and in 1998 Chente was inducted to the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has 51 entries for Fernandez's records which range from gold, platinum, and multiplatinum-selling records. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which gathered a record-breaking crowd of over 5000 people in attendance.

Here are a few of Fernandez's Grammy Nominations and Wins

• Nominated for Best Mexican-American Album for 1994's 'Lastima Que Seas Ajena.'
• Nominated for Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance for 1997's 'Vicente Fernandez y sus Canciones.'
• Won for Best Regional Mexican Album for 'Necesito de Ti' in 2010.
• Won Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) for 'Mano a Mano – Tangos a la Manera de Vicente Fernandez' in 2015.
• Won Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) for 'Un Azteca En El Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo) in 2017.