Known as Freddy Fender or El Bebop Kid, and called the Mexican Elvis Presley, Baldemar Garza Huerta achieved great success as a Tejano, rock, and country singer over more than fifty years. Born on this site in San Benito on June 4, 1937, he first performed in a Harlingen talent show at radio station KGBT, where he won first prize, and for years he performed in and won local talent shows. At age sixteen, with his mother's consent, he joined the Marine Corps. Discharged in 1956, he returned home and began playing to Tejano audiences at bars, nightclubs, and honky-tonks in Texas and Mexico. In 1957, under the name El Bebop Kid, he recorded several Spanish-language versions of popular country and rock songs known as rockabilly. One year later, he changed his name to Freddy Fender. In Harlingen he wrote and recorded his 1959 blues hit "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." After serving nearly three years at Angola State Prison, he left music and began work as a mechanic. He returned to the music industry with his 1974 hit "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," a number one single. Between 1975 and 1983, Fender charted 21 country hits. His emotional, experience-driven songs appealed to a wide audience, and his fame allowed him to contribute to many charitable causes. After a series of medical issues, he died in Corpus Christi on October 14, 2006, at age 69. He performed for U.S. presidents, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, never forgot his humble roots and hometown, and was buried in the San Benito City Cemetery.