Norteño music star Don Lupe Tijerina dead at 69

Don Lupe Tijerina, vocalist and accordionist of Los Cadetes de Linares, passed away early Tuesday morning, July 5, according to sources. The last original member of Las Cadetes de Linares died of respiratory failure in Mexico, he was 69.

According to Multimedios, Tijerina decided to leave the stage during the second song of a performance in Ciudad Fernandez, San Luis Potosi, where the star was treated by an ambulance at the scene. He was then taken to a hospital, where the star suffered a stroke.

Fellow singer Mario Mireles revealed the group continued the show thinking Tijerina would return at any moment.

“I was working on the stage and suddenly felt bad, handed the microphone to Junior, who plays drums to continue because I could not. It felt more bad when there was an ambulance and immediately treated him, he was taken to hospital and we continue to work thinking there was something that was going to happen,” Mireles told Mulitmedios in Spanish via telephone. “When we got off stage we got the news that Lupe had died of respiratory failure.”

Although his health went through delicate moments, Tijerina had shown improvement that motivated him to remain active in the music industry with shows across the country.

The week had been very intense according to Mireles.

“We started in Leon on Saturday in Ciudad Juarez, on Sunday we were in Monterrey and from there by road to San Luis Potosi. He looked happy, very happy, he was with his wife and daughter, resting, joking on the bus while waiting for our turn to hit the stage, ” said Mireles

With his death, Tijerina leaves a legacy of music that became an important catalog of Norteño music. Los Cadetes de Linares are a Mexican band famously known for their corridos, traditional ballad-style songs about multiple topics like social causes, criminals or heroes in the northern part of Mexico. The band is well known in both Mexico and the Southwest.