Johnny Rodriguez

Rodriguez was born to a Mexican American family in Sabinal, Texas, on December 10, 1951,. He was the second-youngest in a family of 10 children living in a four-room house. Growing up in Sabinal, Rodriguez was a good student in school and an altar boy for his church. He was also the captain of his junior high school football team. When Rodriguez was 16 years old, his father died of cancer, and his older brother, Andres, died in an automobile accident the following year. The two incidents had an effect on Rodriguez and he became a troubled teen. In 1969, at age 18, Rodriguez ended up in jail. (It was often said that he was arrested for stealing a goat, although Jackson would later state that Rodriguez was in jail simply for an unpaid fine.) He sang frequently in his cell and was overheard by Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson, who was impressed and told promoter "Happy" Shahan about him. Shahan then hired Johnny to perform at his local tourist attraction called the Alamo Village. During one of his sets in 1971, he came to the attention of country singers Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare, who encouraged the young singer to go to Nashville, Tennessee. The 21-year-old singer arrived in Nashville with only a guitar in his hand and $14 in his pocket. Hall soon found work for Rodriguez fronting his band, as well as writing songs. Less than one year later, Hall took Rodriguez to Mercury Records' Nashville division and landed him an audition with the record label. After performing the songs "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "If I Left It Up to You", he was offered a contract with Mercury. He signed and began recording in their Nashville studio. ==Career==

Career in the 1970s After signing with Mercury, his first single to be released was 1972's "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)". In 1972, Rodriguez was voted the Most Promising Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. The next year, he achieved his first number-one hit song, "You Always Come Back to Hurting Me". In October 1999, he was acquitted of murder by a jury. In 1993, he recorded an album for Intersound Records called Run for the Border. In the mid-1990s, the indie label High-Tone released his album, You Can Say That Again. He continued to tour around the country during this time. In 1996, he turned to another label, Paula Records, which issued "One Bar at a Time", but it was unsuccessful. By this time, his musical presence was fading from the public view. 1998–2025 From 1998 onwards, Rodriguez toured the United States and further afield including Switzerland, Poland, the UK, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico. He performed concerts at the Ryman Auditorium and Carnegie Hall. Rodriguez continued to tour and record new material, performing dates in the United States and Canada. In 2012, he released his first live album, Johnny Rodriguez: Live from Texas. ==Awards and recognition==

Rodriguez was honored by three U.S. presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. He played at George H.W. Bush's inaugural ball. On August 18, 2007, Rodriguez was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Carthage, Texas. On October 23, 2010, Rodriguez received the Institute of Hispanic Culture Pioneer Award, in recognition of his accomplishment as the first major Hispanic singer in country music. ==Personal life==

Rodriguez was first married to Linda Diann Patterson, a Southern Airways flight attendant from Conyers, Georgia. His second marriage was in 1995 to Lana Nelson, daughter of country singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. That marriage lasted seven months. His final marriage was to Debbie McNeely, a hair-salon owner from San Marcos, Texas, in 1998, with whom he had a daughter, Aubry Rae Rodriguez, born in April 1998. They were still married at the time of his death. Rodriguez died after entering hospice care in San Antonio, Texas, on May 9, 2025, at the age of 73. ==Awards and nominations==

Academy of Country Music Awards Country Music Association Awards ==Discography==