Raul Malo

After the disbanding of the Mavericks in the early 2000s, Malo pursued a solo career. He also participated from 2001 in the Los Super Seven supergroup. The Mavericks re-formed in 2012 and continued to tour extensively. In 2015, they won the Americana music award for duo/group of the year.

• Name — Raul Malo • Birth Name — Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. • Born — 7 August 1965 • Birthplace — Miami, Florida, U.S. • Died — 8 December 2025 • Place of death — Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. • Instrument — * Vocals • guitar • Genre — * Americana • neotraditional country • western swing • country rock • TexMex • progressive country • Occupation — Singer-songwriter • Years Active — 1989–2025 • Label — New Door • Past Member Of — The Mavericks

Malo was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents Raul Martinez Malo Sr. and Norma Martinez. However, for much of his adult life, Malo was based in Nashville, Tennessee, where he had lived since 1993. Malo was of maternal Spanish descent, as his grandfather had been a Spanish migrant to Cuba some time prior to the family’s move to Florida. He was personally fond of the music of performers such as Elvis Presley and Hank Williams.

Malo was the lead vocalist for The Mavericks founded in Miami in 1989. The Mavericks have charted 15 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; their highest-peaking single there is "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down", a collaboration with accordionist Flaco Jiménez which reached number 13 in 1996. Three of their singles made top 10 on the country music charts of the defunct RPM magazine in Canada, and "Dance the Night Away" was a hit single in the United Kingdom in 1998. Their most commercially successful album What a Crying Shame has been certified platinum in the United States and double-platinum in Canada.

For 34 years, Malo was married to Betty, and had three sons. In June 2024, Malo announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. In September 2025, he canceled his remaining tour dates due to his cancer, which Malo said on his Instagram page had by this point reached its leptomeningeal disease (LMD) stage, thus spreading to his spinal cord and brain. During his bout with cancer, Malo also left his Nashville home and stayed in Houston, where he received treatment at MD Anderson. On December 7, 2025, however, Betty Malo confirmed on her Instagram page that she and Raul by now received mail from a UPS business center in Nashville. On December 4, 2025, Malo was hospitalized, the day before the first of two nights of tribute shows, which he and his family were also initially scheduled to attend, were set to be held in his honor in Nashville. Despite his continued hospitalization, both tribute shows for Malo would be held as planned at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on December 5 and 6, 2025. On December 6, his Mavericks bandmates were able to visit him in the hospital, giving him one final "concert," which his wife posted a clip of on her Instagram page. Malo died of colon cancer on December 8, at the age of 60. On January 23, 2026, he was awarded the American Eagle Award from the National Music Council.

• Title — Album details — Peak chart positions • US Country — US Heat — US Indie — US Holiday — UK — UK Country — NL • Today — * Release date: October 23, 2001 * Label: Higher Octave — — — — — — — — — 80 — 1 — 75 • You're Only Lonely — * Release date: July 25, 2006 * Label: Sanctuary Records — — — 50 — 38 — — — — — — — — • After Hours — * Release date: July 17, 2007 * Label: New Door Records — 43 — 12 — — — — — — — — — — • Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites — * Release date: September 25, 2007 * Label: New Door Records — — — 24 — — — 11 — — — — — — • Lucky One — * Release date: March 3, 2009 * Label: Fantasy Records — — — 13 — — — — — — — 3 — — • Sinners and Saints — * Release date: October 5, 2010 * Label: Fantasy Records — — — 7 — — — — — — — — — — • Around the World Live — * Release date: February 24, 2012 * Label: Concord/Fantasy/Universal — — — — — — — — — — — 1 — — • Quarantunes — * Release date: April 21, 2021 * Label: Mono Mundo Recordings — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • Say Less — * Release date: May 19, 2023 * Label: Mono Mundo Recordings — — — — — — — — — — — 13 — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart

• Year — Single — Peak positions — Album • UK — NL • 2002 — "I Said I Love You" — 57 — 82 — Today • "Today" — 148 — — • 2006 — "Feels Like Home" — — — — — You're Only Lonely • 2009 — "Lucky One" — — — — — Lucky One • 2010 — "Moonlight Kiss" — 100 — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart

• Year — Video — Director • 2009 — "Hello Again" — Matt Robertson