Vicente Fernández, Lin-Manuel Miranda, & Freddy Fender Music Added to National Recording Registry

The Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz, Mexican icon Juan Gabriel, reggaeton legend Daddy Yankee, Cuban-American trailblazer Gloria Estefan, and Queen of Tejano Music Selena Quintanilla are just a few of the Latin artists inducted to the National Recording Industry since its founding in 2000. Now, Mexican legend Vicente Fernández, Boricua playwright and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Tejano singer Freddy Fender have joined their ranks. The National Recording Registry announced on April 9 that it will induct Fernández’s ranchera anthem “El Rey,” the original Broadway recording of Miranda’s Hamilton, and Fender’s breakthrough song “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” into the Library of Congress (LOC). They are now among the 29 Latin artists who have recordings preserved at the LOC.

Texas representative Joaquin Castro, a longtime advocate for Latinx representation in the arts, celebrated this moment for representation in a statement: “Today’s announcement represents the Library of Congress’ growing recognition that music by Latino musicians has shaped the soundtrack of American life,” he said. “I am proud to see that these three iconic recordings from iconic artists are rightfully taking their place as legends in American music history.”

Recorded in 1973, Fernández’s interpretation of José Alfredo Jiménez’s “El Rey” is one of the most famous Mexican songs in the world and became emblematic of his enduring career and legacy in mariachi music. The renowned singer remains one of Mexico’s most celebrated musicians, and following his death in 2021, his induction further solidifies his impact on Latin music.

Fender’s 1975 single “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” features verses sung in both English and Spanish and broke boundaries in the music industry, reaching the No. 1 spot on the Hot Country Songs and Billboard Hot 100 charts. In becoming a crossover hit, the bicultural song showcased the power of Latin artists in country music.

The inclusion of Hamilton in the registry comes a decade after the record-breaking musical, which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics, and book for, premiered on Broadway. Retelling the story of Alexander Hamilton and America’s founding fathers through rap and hip-hop, the musical was innovative at the time of its premiere for its intentional casting of people of color as white historical figures. It went on to receive 16 Tony award nominations, the most in history, and it won 11 including best musical and best original score. In a statement, Miranda spoke with the LOC about the significance of this recognition:

“I think the National Recording Registry is an artistic version of a nation’s conversation with itself,” Miranda said. “Every piece of art that is made is both deemed timeless by the Library of Congress and also a product of its time. To listen to these recordings, to go back as far as the turn of the century, to the beginning of recorded sound to the present is to hear points in a timeline, to time travel. I feel incredibly honored that Hamilton is a point in that timeline.”