San Antonio’s Johnny Rodriguez was a consistent country hitmaker in the 1970s. Credit: Sam Kindrick Collection, The Wittliff Collections

San Antonio country music singer Johnny Rodriguez, known for 1970s hits including “That’s the Way Love Goes” and “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico,” died Friday at age 73, the Associated Press reports.

The Sabinal-born performer was one of country music’s first Mexican American stars, and he broke roughly a dozen singles into the top 10 before hitting a commercial slump in the 1980s.

Rodriguez died in San Antonio from unspecified health complications, his daughter Aubry Rodriguez said in a statement quoted by the AP. He was surrounded by family. 

“Dad was not only a legendary musician whose artistry touched millions around the world, but also a deeply loved husband, father, uncle, and brother whose warmth, humor and compassion shaped the lives of all who knew him,” the statement said.

Rodriguez worked as a singing stagecoach driver at the Alamo Village Amusement Park in the early 1970s, where he was discovered by Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare.

The Academy of Country Music Awards named Rodriguez its Most Promising Male Vocalist in 1972 and nominated his debut LP Introducing Johnny Rodriguez as its 1973 Album of the Year, according to the AP.

Rodriguez made national headlines in 1998 when he shot and killed a 28-year-old acquaintance in a Sabinal home owned by his mother. The singer said he mistook the man for a burglar, and a jury acquitted him of murder the following year.

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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...