MEXICO CITY â Vicente Fernández, an iconic and beloved singer of regional Mexican music who was awarded three Grammys and nine Latin Grammys and inspired a new generation of performers, including his son Alejandro Fernández, died on Sunday. He was 81. Fernández was known for hits such as âEl Rey,â and âLástima que seas ajena,â his command of the ranchera genre and his dark and elegant mariachi suits with their matching wide-brimmed sombreros.