vicente fernández gómez (february 17, 1940 – december 12, 2021) was a mexican singer and actor. he is known as chente or el rey de la canción ranchera (the king of ranchera music). he had sold over 50 million copies worldwide. fernandez had won eight latin grammy awards and three grammy awards. his career spanned for over 60 years until his retirement in 2016.