A powerful and inspiring voice is gone. Days after a pair of rollicking concerts in his honor at the Ryman, The Mavericks’ frontman Raul Malo died on Monday, Dec. 8. A representative confirmed to Rolling Stone the cause of death was the cancer he had been under treatment for since last year, whose progression led the band to cancel its remaining tour dates earlier this year. Malo leaves behind wife Betty Malo and their children, his longtime bandmates, many other friends and family and a legion of fans. He was 60 years old.
Malo grew up in Miami, born to parents who left Cuba under Fidel Castro’s regime. He developed a deep, abiding love for quintessential American music from the mid-20th century (including vocal pop, country and rock ’n’ roll) as well as Latin music from a wide variety of cultures. The Mavericks got their start in rock clubs in the late 1980s with a repertoire of originals and covers in a style that caught the attention of Nashville record execs, and they rose to fame in the country world.
But by the the turn of the millennium, internal tensions and other pressures led to the band’s dissolution and the start of Malo’s lauded solo career. Eventually, the group reunited and began touring and recording again. As Jewly Hight noted in her 2013 Scene feature on The Mavericks’ In Time: “Malo's been aiming his solo work at the Americana audience. But even in that context, The Mavericks' new stuff stands out; the simplicity and directness of the lyrics land closer to Tin Pan Alley than to the folk troubadour tradition, and the emphasis is on that operatic pop voice and the big, hot band behind it.”
Among other noble endeavors, Malo put considerable effort into lifting up rising artists, like Nashville-residing Cuban rock band Sweet Lizzy Project. He and The Mavericks continued to explore their Latin roots, and their 2020 Spanish-language album En Español enjoyed chart success while remaining a fan favorite. The Americana Music Association gave the band a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Malo spoke with Brittney McKenna for the Scene ahead of AmericanaFest 2022, when the band was nominated for Duo or Group of the Year.
“The Mavericks are very much an American story, and not only with our Latin roots, but because it’s such a mixture of cultures and styles and genres,” said Malo. “I think that Americana has given us that platform where we can do whatever we want, in some ways. … I think it has given us that creative liberty to really pursue those endeavors, like our En Español record. We knew that wasn’t going to climb up the Americana charts, but it gave us a number one record on the Billboard Latin charts. I love that our trajectory in our career is confusing.”
Details on a public celebration of life have not been announced as of this writing. Per a statement from The Mavericks on Instagram, the Malo family has asked for privacy at this time.
