A songwriter, performer, producer, arranger and actor, Joan Sebastian was one of Mexico’s most talented and beloved musicians and performers. An avid composer of ranchero, pop, and grupero music, he went on to win seven Latin GRAMMYs and four GRAMMY Awards. He wrote at least 1,000 songs and released more than 60 albums since starting his professional career at the age of 17.
El Rey del Jaripeo, or “King of Mexican Rodeo,” Sebastian was a horseman and a cowboy who never veered from living a simple life in his Hacienda. He was first diagnosed with bone cancer in 1999, the Latin Times reports. After months of speculation his son finally confirmed on the morning show “Hoy” in April of this year that his father had been hospitalized.
Sebastian’s long struggle with cancer had been a public one: after his initial diagnosis, he fought it off in 2007 and 2012 before a final recurrence in 2014.Sebastian died on his family’s ranch in Juliantla in Guerrero, Mexico.
