Tejano and country musician icon Emilio Navaira, 53, was found dead at his Texas home Monday evening, New Braunfels Police confirm.
Police say family members found Navaira unconscious and not breathing. He was rushed to the hospital where he was then pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation indicates his death was natural, but an investigation is underway by the medical examiner.
The award-winning singer was widely credited with introducing Tejano music into the mainstream in the 1990s. He became one of Tejano's biggest stars during that time, alongside Selena and La Mafia.
Many fans took to Twitter and Facebook to thank him for "inspiring" youth to achieve their dreams.
"He united us in a way," said Houstonian Esmeralda Castillo. "The younger generation, sometimes we lose we Spanish speaking, but we could use this as a bridge to relate to our older generation."
"When we grew up - high school - we used to listen to his music," fan Arturo Campuzano told KHOU 11. "It brought back memories."
According to MTV.com, it was 1988 when he formed his own group, Rio, and signed a recording contract with CBS Records. The group's debut album was nominated for a 1989 Grammy Award in the category of Best Mexican-American Performance, ultimately losing to Los Lobos' La Pistola y el Corazon.
At the 1990 Tejano Music Awards, he won Conjunto Album of the Year and Most Promising Band of the Year. Navaira's second album, Sensaciones, also won Album of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards.
Before he made it big, one of his first shows was at the Brazoria County Fairgrounds.
“Only 250 people showed up,” said Jim Luna, who promoted the concert. “But he played like there were 2,000 people.”
The show was so mesmerizing, Luna says a few months later, Navaira came back to play a sold-out show at the same venue.
It’s just one of many stories Luna shared with KHOU’s Rekha Muddaraj, about the star’s life.
Luna says despite all of Navaira’s success, including winning a Grammy, the singer always took time to appreciate his fans.
"Literally, we would have to push him on stage because he would take a long time with his fans, signing autographs or taking pictures.”
Navaira was the last Tejano act to play at Rodeo Houston back in 2007 in front of a crowd of nearly 70,000 fans.
One year after that, he nearly died when his tour bus crashed in Houston. The 2008 crash made headlines as Navaira was behind the wheel and was ejected through the windshield. He later made a full recovery and pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge.