This past weekend, bandmates Paul Deakin, Eddie Perez and Jerry Dale McFadden performed<\/a> with a cast of friends and admirers at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium to mark the Mavericks\u2019 35th anniversary. Among the acts who paid tribute were Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Patty Griffin and Marty Stuart.<\/p>\n Their sound built around Malo\u2019s muscular baritone, the Mavericks broke out in the 1990s with an expansive style of country music that pulled from big-band pop, \u201950s-era rock and the Cuban music Malo heard growing up in Miami as the son of Cuban immigrants. As a singer, Malo was frequently compared to Roy Orbison; in 2001, he told<\/a> The Times about his love for Tony Bennett.<\/p>\n The Mavericks released their self-titled debut album in 1990 and were quickly signed by MCA Nashville, which put out \u201cFrom Hell to Paradise\u201d in 1992. (The album\u2019s title track was Malo\u2019s description of his parents\u2019 journey to America.) The band\u2019s next LP, 1994\u2019s \u201cWhat a Crying Shame,\u201d went platinum and spun off a series of hit country singles including the title track, \u201cO What a Thrill\u201d and \u201cThere Goes My Heart.\u201d The next year the band recorded a cover of Rodgers & Hart\u2019s \u201cBlue Moon\u201d for the soundtrack of Ron Howard\u2019s Oscar-winning movie \u201cApollo 13.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1996, the Mavericks won a Grammy Award for \u201cHere Comes the Rain,\u201d a chiming roots-rock number from their album \u201cMusic for All Occasions,\u201d which featured appearances by Trisha Yearwood and the accordionist Flaco Jim\u00e9nez<\/a>. The Mavericks were twice named vocal group of the year at the Country Music Assn. Awards, in 1995 and 1996.<\/p>\n For 1998\u2019s \u201cTrampoline,\u201d the band leaned into torch-song balladry and classic R&B but struggled to connect on country radio. The album \u201cthrew a lot of people for a loop,\u201d Malo told The Times. \u201cThat\u2019s OK. I liked it.\u201d He followed the album with a solo debut, 2001\u2019s \u201cToday,\u201d that further explored his Cuban heritage.<\/p>\n Malo was born in Miami in 1965. He co-founded the Mavericks in 1989 with Robert Reynolds, who had fronted an earlier band in which Malo played bass. <\/p>\n The group broke up after 2003\u2019s \u201cThe Mavericks,\u201d then reunited a decade later. The band\u2019s most recent studio album, \u201cMoon & Stars,\u201d came out last year.<\/p>\n In addition to the Mavericks and his solo work, Malo also played with Los Super Seven, a sprawling roots-music supergroup whose other members included Jim\u00e9nez, Freddy Fender and members of Los Lobos. <\/p>\n Among Malo\u2019s survivors are his mother, Norma; his wife, Betty, and their sons, Dino, Victor and Max; and his sister Carol.<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765374017_510_hqdefault.jpg\")
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