BREAKING Beloved singer dead at 60 as tributes paid to ‘force of human nature’

Raul Malo has died at the age of 60. The singer was best known as part of the country band the Mavericks in the 1980s and 1990s but passed away on Monday following a battle with cancer.

The singer’s wife Betty wrote on Facebook: “At 8:52 pm on December 8th, 2025, my love… our boys’ father… a devoted son and brother… and a friend to so many, gained his angel wings. He was called to do another gig — this time in the sky — and he’s flying high like an eagle.

“No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music, and adventure the way our beloved Raul did. Now he will look down on us with all that heaven will allow, lighting the way and reminding us to savor every moment.

“Dino, Victor, Max and I — along with our entire family — thank all of you for your love and support through all of this. We felt every bit of it. In Raul’s own words: “Muchísimas gracias.”

Along with fellow founding members Paul Deakin, Robert Reynolds, and Ben Peeler, Raul attained massive success with their hit Dance the Night Away and they sold more than two million albums during their heyday.

Raul announced that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year. He has since shared that he’s had treatment including chemotherapy and surgery following the diagnosis.

He shared the latest update on his health in a post on Instagram yesterday. The Grammy Award winner said that he’s developed LMD, which can be used to represent leptomeningeal disease. It’s understood to be where cancer spreads to tissue layers in the brain and spinal cord.

Alongside footage of himself playing his guitar, Raul wrote in the post: “Dear Friends, I want to update you all on my health, as things have taken a turn. As it goes with cancer, it’s a very unpredictable and indiscriminatory disease.

“I’ve developed something called LMD, which stands for ‘get this s**t out of my head’. Treatment for this is radiation, which I will start tomorrow. We will probably jump into some chemo, and are even looking at alternative therapies.”

He continued: “But it’s time to take your words to heart of resting & recovering, so that’s what I’m going to do. Unfortunately, this does mean all shows going forward are canceled, but we’ll continue doing cool projects, releasing live recordings, merchandise, Trovador and so forth.”

Raul added: “I want to thank Dwight Yoakam, his band, and crew for their kindness and understanding this year, and sorry we couldn’t finish the tour the way we planned. Hang on to your tickets for the Ryman in December, as we are planning something special there, and hope to announce that very soon.”

The musician went on to tell fans that he is not “alone,” before praising his family. He said: “But I want to let everybody know, I am in no way alone, or scared. I have an amazing wife and boys, wonderful family, team, road crew, band, friends and fans. I don’t even have enough words to describe the love and support that I’m getting right now.”

Raul said in a message to friends who have reached out that he has read all of them but hasn’t been able to reply to everyone. He added in the post this week: “But your love, prayers, and well wishes have not gone unnoticed.”

He continued: “We don’t know what this will look like a couple months from now, but we are going into it like we have with everything else. Full steam ahead. Fight, recover, rest, repeat. I want to thank you all for your incredible support through all this, & sorry about the cancellations but we have no choice anymore.”

Raul encouraged his fans to find “kindness and empathy” wherever they can. He said: “Humans are alright, even if you don’t believe it from what you see on TV.” The singer, who was already due to have hernia surgery in January, concluded by saying that he will keep them updated on his health.

The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.

Source: Mirror