Rudy Flores, who founded Los Humildes and created his own Latin music style, dies at age 75

Rudolfo “Rudy” Flores – whose innovative changes to Mexican regional music catapulted the Modesto-based Los Humildes to a Grammy nomination and legions of followers on both sides of the border – died Dec. 26 while visiting relatives in Houston.

No cause of death was given for Flores, a Fresno resident who was 75 years old. News of his death spread quickly on Spanish-language social media.

The native of San Pedro de las Colonias, Coahuila, México left for California at age 17 following the death of his father. The oldest of six children, Flores figured it was up to him to go north to work to help his family.

“Had I been the youngest, I would have stayed home and been happy,” Flores said during a 2022 appearance on the show “Gigantes de la Música” (Music Giants).

Instead, he continued his interest in music and became successful with his own style of norteño music by using a piano accordion instead of the button variety, and combining the accordion with a keyboard.

“I have always liked to be a little different from others,” Flores told show host Chava Ponce.

Flores teamed with the Ayala brothers from Turlock to form Los Humildes in the late 1960s. The band often playing at weddings and backyard quinceañeras.

Starting in 1972, the group rocketed up the charts with songs like “Ambición” (Ambition) and “Amor Eterno” (Eternal Love, not to be confused with the Juan Gabriel composition.

“They were before their time,” said Maggie Mejía, a Modesto community advocate who recalled dancing at the California Ballroom in 1968 or 1969 with her late husband before they got married.

The Mejías got married and lived in the same apartments on Paradise Road that Flores lived in.

“This was a very talented group,” said Mejía. “They were very humble.”

His music took root in México

The son of José Flores and Celia Villareal was born in a ranch near the municipality of San Pedro de las Colonias, just east of Torreón.

His father would migrate to Central California to pick peaches and apricots for months at a time. Everytime he would leave for the U.S., Flores told another television program, “my mother would be pregnant.”

In elementary school, Flores was so skinny that a teacher invited him home for meals and encouraged him to study hard and do well in school.

His father would install speakers atop the family house and play the music of Los Alegres de Terán, Juan Montoya, Juan Salazar, and Los Montañes del Álamo (a group that later had a hit with Flores’ song “Noemí.”

“If only my father had been alive to have heard the group play one of my songs,” said Flores.

Before leaving for the U.S., Flores played in a band named Los Solteritos (The Little Singles).

In Modesto, his knack for accounting led to a desk job at a farm tallying timecards while a younger brother worked in the fields. His boss paid him to study accounting, and Flores parlayed that into a busy side job filling out tax forms for fellow Mexicans. He took up music in his free time, which included weekends.

Other than his grandmother, who played the accordion but “was mean,” no one else in the family was musically inclined, Flores said in Ponce’s show. A brother became a civil engineer, a sister became a teacher, and another sister became an accountant.

Flores learned to play the accordion, bass guitar, the piano, and the drums. But his greatest contribution was writing songs that touched the heart that were immediately treasured by fans.

He wrote “Ojitos de Color Azul” (Blue-Colored Eyes) as a tribute to his blue-eyed wife, Martha, a sister of the Ayala brothers.

Flores also wrote “Hilo de Color Azul” (Blue-Colored Thread) in hopes that his wife would deliver him some sons. “She always loved to knit, and was knitting a blue outfit during her first pregnancy,” said Flores. “She also wanted a boy.”

Instead, his wife bore four daughters.

Flores estimated he wrote 200 songs, and 100 of them were recorded by him and other groups. One of his proudest moments, he said, was when BMI honored him as songwriter of the year.

Los Humildes were nominated for a Grammy in February 1978 in the Mexican American Recording category for “13 Aniversario.’ The Grammy went to Vikki Carr. Ranchero legend Vicente Fernández was the other nominee.

Later that year, Los Humildes broke up.

Split led to a $1 billion lawsuit

Flores remembers meeting the Ayala brothers in the late 1960s. They followed his advice on how to play his style of music and eventually caught the eye of Art Walker, who owned a recording studio in San José.

The group recorded for Fama records, whose lineup included Los Tigres del Norte. Los Humildes quickly sold out shows in Houston, Chicago and elsewhere. In fact, the band members thought Flores was up to his old tricks when he revealed a promoter promised a $10,000 payday for a concert in Houston.

Los Humildes got top billings over Los Tigres del Norte.

The group’s name is English for “humble.” The Ayala brothers – José Luis, Alfonso and Juan Manuel – have said they came up with the name, but Flores has disputed that version. He said he suggested the name during a meeting of the band and followers, but no one wanted that name.

“I am going to form my group and it will be named Los Humildes,” Flores recalled telling everyone, “and those who want to follow me follow me, and those who don’t don’t.”

When the band tried to get a gig in Merced, the promoter refused to book a group with that name. A few months after the group’s first hit, the promoter called to book the band.

Flores said he never left Los Humildes.

“I want to clear things up that I never left the group,” Flores told Ponce.

In a 2020 interview with Charly Valdez, Florez said he had just completed a clinic for alcoholism and the Ayala brothers took him aside.

“‘You know what? We are no longer happy. We don’t like it,’” Flores was told.

Flores said everyone agreed that the group name would no longer be used. However, a few months later, Flores became aware of a band with that name playing in Los Ángeles.

“They told me they changed their minds,” said Flores, who named his new group Rudy Flores y Sus Chavos.

Following a court fight, including a $1 billion lawsuit that Flores filed against the brothers and various recording companies, the name survived as long as it wasn’t billed as the original band. That led to the creation of Los Humildes de Rudy Flores and Los Humildes de los Hermanos Ayala.

Family was important to him

Flores was proud of his four daughters, who went into accounting and medicine.

The group Liberación posted a tribute to Flores.

“Mr. Flores’s significant contributions to the music industry, particularly through the creation of Los Humildes, have left an indelible mark on the hearts of many,” the band said. “His passion, talent, and dedication have resonated with fans around the world, creating a lasting legacy that will continue to inspire generations to come.”

Flores, in his interview with Ponce, said he was happy that music allowed him to fulfill a promise he made to his mother.

“We never had a house, and I told my mother that when I grew up and when I went to work that I would buy her a house,” recalled Flores.

Her response: “Boy, are you crazy?”

Flores completed his promise. “God gave me the license to give my mother a house. Not a big house, not a humble house, but it was my mother’s house and she was happy.”

Funeral services are pending.