Freddy Fender dies of lung cancer

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Freddy Fender, the Tex-Mex singer who became a country music superstar in the 1970s, died Saturday of lung cancer at his home in Texas.

Fender's family was at his bedside, the Corpus Christi Times reported. He was released from a hospital there earlier this week for hospice care at home.

"Since last year, Freddy got closer to the Lord than ever," said Ruben Rivera, a friend who visited on Saturday.

Fender was born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley. As a child he learned Tejano music, which mixes Mexican strains with German polkas, and the blues sung by black migrant workers who toiled in the fields with his parents.

His first hits were Spanish versions of "Don't be cruel," best-known in the Elvis Presley version, and Harry Bellefonte's "Jamaica Farewell," which went to the top of the charts in Mexico. Hoping to cross over, Fender changed his name, picking his new surname from his guitar.

His best-known hits were "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" and "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." In the 1990s, he began a new performing career with the Tejano group The Texas Tornadoes.

Fender is to be buried in San Benito.