Courtesy Photo / Wittliff Collections
Singer Joe Lopez, featured in a decades-old file photo, was the frontman for influential Tejano band Grupo Mazz.
The decision follows press reports on the controversial recognition and simmering anger from fans. Some Tejano music enthusiasts said Lopez's criminal record should disqualify him, while others accused the singer of trying to take credit for awards won after he left the band and former musical partner Jimmy Gonzalez carried on Mazz's legacy, according to TTMA Vice President Frank Salazar.
"[The decision] was made this morning because of this public outcry," Salazar told the Current Wednesday afternoon. "We needed to make some kind of decision. It was hard, but [we] decided it was the right thing to do."
The awards show is scheduled to take place Saturday, Oct. 21, at San Antonio's Boeing Center at Tech Port.
In 2006, a Cameron County jury convicted Lopez on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child on allegations that he raped his teenage niece two years prior, court records show. Lopez was released on parole in March 2018, and he remains on the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry.
Lopez and Gonzales were both part of the groundbreaking act Grupo Mazz, which blended pop and rock with Tex-Mex sounds. Lopez left to start a solo career in the late '90s, while Gonzalez continued on with the renamed Jimmy Gonzalez y Grupo Mazz, which won several Latin Grammys.
In recent weeks, Gonzalez's fans accused Lopez of submitting a bio to the TTMA ahead of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award that implied he'd been in Mazz when it won the Latin Grammys. In an op-ed published on Wednesday urging the TTMA not to honor Lopez in light of his criminal record, the Express-News incorrectly identified Lopez as a Grammy winner.
Although Lopez won't receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, he still could win individual honors at the Tejano Music Awards, including Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Vocalist of the Year, all of which he was nominated for.
"I mean, it's up to the fans that are voting for that," Tejano Music Awards press spokesman Felix Mendoza told the Current.
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