After nearly 50 years in the industry, California-based mariachi band leader José Hernández has earned his twelfth Latin Grammy nomination for his band, ‘Mariachi del Sol de Mexico’—an honor on par with nearly two centuries of family musicianship.
His was the first mariachi ensemble to be nominated for a Grammy.
Playing mariachi music with his siblings since he was 3 years old, Hernández moved with his family from Mexico to Pico Rivera in Los Angeles County when he was 4 years old. The Hernández family soon became a prominent presence in the art of mariachi in Southern California.
Mariachi music band Mariachi Sol de Mexico. (Courtesy of José Hernández)
Starting his professional career playing in the Disneyland band in the 1970s, Hernández has been primed to continue his family’s musical legacy—one spanning back to 1836, according to a genealogical expert detailing a book on the singer’s life….