Rick Fuentes releases duet with Arturo Montes as lead single from ‘Tribute’ album [AUDIO]

Arturo Montes (Photo: Sergio Gil Lozano Facebook) | Rick Fuentes (Photo: Ryan Bazan/Tejano Nation)

Tejano music suffered another loss with the news that legendary singer Arturo Montes passed away in Monterrey, Mexico on Wednesday (July 17).

He was an icon and one of the most beloved vocalists in Tejano music with many hits songs and successful albums mostly during the 1980s with Grupo Ternura.

The crooner’s most recent and last recording happened two months ago for a duet with Grammy Award winner Rick Fuentes for the upcoming “Tribute” album for the original Brown Express.

Montes was one of the many influences for Fuentes, “He’s been one of my favorite singers for many years,” Fuentes told Tejano Nation. “I remember traveling on the road with Chavela y Grupo Express I would have cassettes in my Walkman of Arturo Montes and that’s all I would listen to. He had a great band, he’s an icon. He’s a legend.”

With news of the legendary singer’s passing, Fuentes decided to release the duet with Montes as the lead single from the upcoming “Tribute” album.

“I’m honored to have Arturo Montes on this album,” Fuentes said. “I talked with some people at Revolution Records and we decided the first single we should release should be the song that we did with Arturo Montes.”

The song titled “Caricia Y Herida” is a beautiful song that was originally recorded by Chavela Y Grupo Express and Ramon Flores in 1984.

“I had the honor of recording this song with Arturo Montes and myself,” Fuentes said. “We’re excited to release it and we hope people enjoy the song.”

Fuentes added that the full “Tribute” album containing 20 songs and took over two years to produce is scheduled for release in two weeks. The album features duets with many Tejano stars including Little Joe, Ruben Ramos, David Lee Garza, Gary Hobbs, Chente Barrera, and Shelly Lares, just to name a few.

“Caricia Y Herida” will be available all digital music platforms soon, but you can listen to an exclusive Tejano Nation preview of the duet from Arturo Montes and Rick Fuentes below.

“I’m very honored that I’m able to preserve his voice on this last recording that he did,” said Fuentes. “We’re going to miss him. The Tejano music industry has lost one of its greats.”

For breaking Tejano news follow Tejano Nation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive artist interviews. Listen to new Tejano music first with our playlists on Spotify and podcast on iHeartRadio.