We here at Austin City Limits are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Mavericks singer and songwriter Raul Malo. His family announced Tuesday morning he’d lost his battle with cancer.
An extraordinary singer and songwriter, the sixty-year-old Florida native and his band nudged country music into new realms, incorporating Latin music, sixties folk rock, traditional pop, and more into songs like “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down,” “What a Crying Shame,” “There Goes My Heart,” and “Dance the Night Away.” The band made 12 studio albums which earned them numerous accolades from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), the Country Music Association (CMA) as well as a GRAMMY Award. In 2015, they won an Americana Music Award for duo/group of the year. Malo’s soaring, powerful voice anchored every song, and led him to conduct a prolific solo career alongside that of his beloved band. He was a frequent artist-in-residence in Austin, working with country musicians Whitney Rose and Rick Trevino. For Trevino, Malo wrote the hit “In My Dreams.”
Malo appeared on Austin City Limits with The Mavericks three times (1995, 2000 and 2020), including a stunning Season 46 taping in support of their album En Español, the first album ever to debut at the top of both the Latin Pop and Folk-Americana charts. The taping had no audience due to the ongoing pandemic. Well, not a public audience – our crew and producers couldn’t help but clap and cheer after every song due to the high energy performance, with Malo in top form as singer and frontman. Malo also joined us as a featured solo artist on our 2017 Hall of Fame celebration in tribute to Roy Orbison, whose catalog seems particularly suited to Malo’s powerfully smooth vocals. His final appearance was leading the Mavericks through a powerhouse performance of “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” for our half-century celebration Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years.
“Raul was a force on stage with the voice of both an angel and a tiger,” Austin City Limits executive producer Terry Lickona told Billboard. “The Mavericks first appeared on ACL 30 years ago, did one of our only pandemic shows — without an audience — and kicked off our 50th anniversary special last year.”
Raul Malo’s exuberant onstage energy and remarkable talent earned him a spot in our firmament of ACL favorites. He was also a kind and uplifting human being and will be greatly missed by all of us here at ACL.