From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emilio Navaira
Background information
Birth name	Emilio Navaira III
Born	August 23, 1962 (1962-08-23) (age 47)
Origin	San Antonio, Texas, USA
Genres	Country, Tejano
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, rhythm guitar
Years active	1993-present
Labels	Columbia/CBS Capitol/EMI Latin Capitol Nashville RCA/BMG Latin RCA/Ariola
Associated acts	Ednita Nazario
Website	http://www.emilioyrio.net/

Emilio Navaira III (born August 23, 1962) is an American musician of Mexican heritage, who performs both country music and Tejano music. Known primarily by the singular name Emilio, he has also charted more than ten singles on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks charts, in addition to six singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Emilio is also one of the few Tejano artists to have significant success in both the United States and Mexico, and has been called the "Garth Brooks of Tejano." His biggest country hit was the #27 "It's Not the End of the World" in late 1995, and his highest-charting single on any chart is "Por Siempre Unidos," which peaked at #7 on Latin Pop Airplay in 1996.

Biography

Emilio Navaira III was born in 1962 as the third patriline Navaira to be named Emilio Navaira.^[1] Raised in San Antonio, Texas^[2] Emilio began singing to Willie Nelson, George Strait and "Little Joe" tunes at an early age and initially thought of being a music teacher.^[3]

In 1985 at age 23, Emilio began his performing career by singing lead vocals for David Lee Garza y Los Musicales.^[3] In 1987, Cuantas Veces by David Lee Garza Y Los Musicales beat out Alpha by Mexican American singer Selena for Album of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards. In 1989, Navaira formed his own band, Emilio y Groupo Rio.^[3] That same year Emilio signed with Columbia Records (then known as CBS Records). This relationship resulted in Emilio recording more than fifteen studio albums to date, including several with his Rio Band.

By the mid 1990s, Emilio began crediting himself solely as Emilio, eventually switching his focus to country music.^[4] Between 1989 and 1996, Emilio had released seven Spanish albums with cumulative sales of about 2 million.^[5] This success lead to mainstream commercial exposure, with companies such as Coca-Cola and Wrangler Jeans using his songs in their advertisements in the 1990s.^[4] Emilio had also gained a sponsorship with Miller Lite beer, who had persuaded him to use their slogan at the time, "Life is good," as the title of his first country album.^[6]

Emilio signed with Capitol Records and released his first country music single called "It's Not the End of the World" which reached the Top 30 on the country charts in 1995. His album was a surprise success as well reaching #13 on the country charts and also a high placing on the Top 200. Several more singles including a Spanish version of "It's Not the End of the World" followed but none of these singles came close to the Top 40 except "Even If I Tried" which reached #41 in 1996. In 1997, he released a second country album, "It's On The House" but it was not as successful as his first country album. Two more minor country singles followed and gradually Emilio faded from country music and increasingly came back to Tejano music.

Driving Accidents

Navaira was hospitalized in critical condition after his tour bus crashed early in the morning on March 23, 2008, in Bellaire (a small municipality partially surrounded by Houston, Texas). Navaira had performed the previous night at Hallabaloo's, a Houston nightclub and he was at the wheel of the tour bus^[7] as it traveled north along west 610 Loop near the Southwest Freeway when it crashed into a set of freeway barrels shortly before 4 a.m. Emilio was taken by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital^[8][9] where a blood clot in his head was removed;^[10][11] Emilio's initial treatment included being kept in a medically-induced coma and induced hypothermia to minimize brain swelling. Doctors cautioned that he might not survive.^[12]

A March 27, 2008 press release from Memorial Hermann Hospital reported that on the evening of March 26 Emilio "opened his eyes and moved his arms and legs."^[13] On April 4, 2008, the hospital announced that Emilio underwent a surgical procedure on March 31 to repair a pseudoaneurysm in his right lung and that he remained in critical condition.^[14] On April 16, 2008, he was upgraded to fair condition.^[15][16] On April 23, the hospital announced that Emilio was transferred to The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) at Memorial Hermann as part of his rehabilitative care.^[17]

On May 1, 2008, police released initial reports that indicated that Emilio was intoxicated at the time of the crash.^[18] On May 8, the full report was released which indicated that Emilio had a blood alcohol content of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit in Texas.^[19] Authorities also indicated that Emilio was not licensed to drive a bus.^[20][21]

On September 24, 2008, Emilio was involved in another car accident in San Antonio as a passenger while his wife was driving. According to a witness, the Navairas were stopped in a turn lane when a truck crossed at least two lanes of traffic and struck their vehicle. Both Emilio and his wife Maria were released from the hospital the following day. Emilio's agent, Joe Casias, stated that Emilio and his wife were headed home from a rehabilitation therapy appointment stemming from the March tour bus accident.^[22]

Emilio has previously been arrested twice on DWI charges, paying a fine and serving probation for the first one in 2000 while the second arrest from 2005 remains unresolved. Resolution of either of the two outstanding cases would escalate the remaining offense to a felony.^[23] He pleaded guilty to DWI charges stemming from the crash on March 13, 2009; he was sentenced to three days in jail and 27 days of house arrest; because of his ongoing medical issues, he will not serve his sentence until 2010.^[24] He still faces a civil suit by a member of Emilio's band and the relative of another band member because of the injuries they suffered from the accident. The suit seeks unspecified damages.^[25]

Discography

Studio albums

• ^ASouthern Exposure also peaked at #39 on US Heatseekers.

Singles

• ^ACredited to Emilio Navaira.
• ^B"No Es El Fin del Mundo" is a Spanish-language version of "It's Not the End of the World".
• ^C"Por Siempre Unidos" also peaked at #7 on Latin Pop Airplay.

Music videos

References

External links

• Emilio Navaira y Rio at MySpace
• Video of March 26, 2008, hospital press conference
• Memorial Hermann Hospital newsroom - updates on Emilio's condition
• Tejano star Emilio Navaira injured in Houston bus crash - Dash cam video, audios, and pictures of the crash scene

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Italian

Proper noun

Emilio (m)

1. A male given name, cognate to Emil.

Related terms

• Emilia

Spanish

Proper noun

Emilio (m)

1. A male given name, cognate to Emil.

Related terms

• Emilia