Johnny Rodriguez, the pioneering singer-songwriter widely regarded as the first Mexican ... the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and received the Institute of Hispanic Culture’s Pioneer Award ...

The first popular Mexican American country artist, he was best known for the 1970s hits “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind” and “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico.” By Livia Albeck-Ripka ...

Johnny Rodriguez, a trailblazing Mexican American ... was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2010 received the Institute of Hispanic Culture Pioneer Award, honoring his ...

A country music pioneer who racked up several chart-topping ... From growing up 90 miles from the Mexican border, Rodriguez’s musical influences ranged from mariachi to honky-tonk to traditional ...

Johnny Rodriguez, the first major Mexican ... music pioneer, Freddy Fender, put out his breakthrough hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” it became the first of six No. 1 country hits for ...

Texas native Johnny Rodriguez, a Mexican-American ... inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2010, he received the Institute of Hispanic Culture Pioneer Award, honoring his decades ...