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The Mavericks are an American band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in 1989 along with Robert Reynolds (bass guitar) and Ben Peeler (lead guitar). After one independent album, the band was signed by MCA Nashville Records and David Lee Holt replaced Peeler on lead guitar; he would be replaced by Nick Kane shortly after their second MCA album and third overall 1994's What a Crying Shame. The band recorded a total of four albums for MCA and one for Mercury Records before disbanding in 2000. They reunited for one album in 2003 on Sanctuary Records, by which point Perez had become their fourth guitarist, and former touring keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden became an official fifth member. The lineup of Malo, Deakin, Reynolds, Perez, and McFadden reunited a second time in 2012 for a series of new albums, first on Big Machine Records' Valory imprint and then on Mono Mundo. Reynolds was fired in 2014 and Ed Friedland served as touring bassist until 2023, with Malo briefly taking over on bass before Scotty Huff joined as touring bassist in 2024.
The Mavericks have charted 15 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; their highest-peaking single there is "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down", a collaboration with accordionist Flaco Jiménez which reached number 13 in 1996. Three of their singles made top 10 on the country music charts of the defunct RPM magazine in Canada, and "Dance the Night Away" was a hit single in the United Kingdom in 1998. Their most commercially successful album What a Crying Shame has been certified platinum in the United States and double-platinum in Canada. In addition, the band has received one Grammy Award, two Country Music Association awards, and three Academy of Country Music awards. Their sound is defined by a wide variety of musical styles outside of country music, such as Tejano music, Latin, Americana music, and the pop music of the 1950s, with particular emphasis on Malo's singing voice.
Holt quit the band after only one album. Dale Martin, music reviewer for The Victoria Advocate, attributed Holt's departure to "friction of some sort". Conversely, Karen Essex of New Country magazine stated that Holt left amicably. After leaving The Mavericks, Holt would become a founding member of the blues rock band Storyville. In 1993, The Mavericks chose Bill Dwyer to fill in on lead guitar while on tour in Europe. Reynolds told Mike Cooper of The Hard Report in July of that year that the band did not yet know who would replace Holt.
What a Crying Shame produced a total of five singles, four of which made the top 40 on the Billboard country singles charts. First was "What a Crying Shame", one of the songs which Malo and Kostas co-wrote. The song was initially unsuccessful at radio, but Malo insisted that the label keep promoting it through the Christmas season of late 1993-early 1994, after which it began ascending the airplay charts. As a result, it reached a peak of number 25 in early 1994. After it was a cover of Jesse Winchester's "O What a Thrill", which would become the most successful single off the album with a number 18 peak on the country charts. It was followed by "There Goes My Heart", "I Should Have Been True", and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "All That Heaven Will Allow". "What a Crying Shame" and "O What a Thrill" both made top 10 on RPM Country Tracks, then the main country music chart published in Canada. In February 1995, What a Crying Shame was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies. In Canada, the album was certified double-platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (now Music Canada), a certification which at the time honored shipments of 200,000 copies in that country.
The commercial success of What a Crying Shame also led to the first of several industry award nominations for the band. The title track earned the band their first Grammy Award nomination at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in 1995, in the category of Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The Academy of Country Music also awarded the band as Top Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duet or Group in 1994; they would win the former again in 1995 and be nominated a third time for it in 1996. In mid-1995, The Mavericks covered Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's 1934 standard "Blue Moon" for the soundtrack of the film Apollo 13.
In 1996, Music for All Occasions was certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies. At the 38th Grammy Awards in February 1996, Music for All Occasions was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Album, while "Here Comes the Rain" won Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; one year later, "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" was nominated in the same category. Despite the commercial success of the album, Deakin was critical of its overall sound, saying that "there was little vibe to it" and that he considered "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" to be its only good song. After this album's release, The Mavericks contributed the original composition "I Don't Care (If You Love Me Anymore)" to the soundtrack of the 1996 Nora Ephron film Michael; the song would also receive a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1997. The Country Music Association nominated the band for Vocal Group of the Year for four consecutive years between 1995 and 1998. They would win this award in both 1995 and 1996.
Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Scott Schnider described Malo's singing voice favorably, also noting influences of samba and soul music in the album's tracks. John D. Buchanan of AllMusic wrote that "Easily the group's most musically ambitious set to date, Trampolines blend of pop and Latin textures didn't connect with the mainstream country audience in the United States". The album charted only two singles in the United States: "To Be with You" and "Dance the Night Away", neither reaching top 40 on Hot Country Songs. The latter was more successful in the United Kingdom, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart in 1998. Its success led to two more singles charting in that country: "I've Got This Feeling" and "Someone Should Tell Her". "Dance the Night Away" was also the band's fifth and final Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Following this album's failure in the United States, The Mavericks left MCA Nashville in 1999; Deakin told the website Country Standard Time in 2000 that the band chose to leave MCA in favor of Mercury Records because many of the executives who had supported the band during their commercial peak earlier in the decade were no longer active at the label. Malo told the same publication in 2003, "That's part of the problem of being signed to a major label in Nashville. When you venture outside the box, you're pretty much sealing your fate."
After the disbanding, Kane released a solo album of cover songs in 2000 titled Songs in the Key of E. Malo recorded both as a solo artist and as a member of Los Super Seven, a supergroup that also included Mexican-American country singers Rick Trevino and Freddy Fender. Meanwhile, Reynolds recorded one album with the supergroup Swag, which also included members of Cheap Trick, Wilco, and Sixpence None the Richer. In 2000, McFadden joined Trent Summar & the New Row Mob.
The Mavericks reunited in 2003, with Eddie Perez as their fourth guitarist. Malo had known Perez because the two had played in an Austin, Texas nightclub prior to The Mavericks' foundation. The re-established band recorded two albums for the British Sanctuary Records: the self-titled The Mavericks and a live album recorded in Austin, Texas, which was accompanied by a DVD release. Malo said that many of the songs on the self-titled album were inspired by his concerns over the sociopolitical scene of the United States following the September 11 attacks, and that Sanctuary Records executives were more willing to let the band record their music without executive interference. Only one single from The Mavericks charted: a cover of The Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe". Also included on the album was a collaboration with Willie Nelson on "Time Goes By". Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time reviewed the album favorably, finding influences of The Beatles and Roy Orbison in the songwriting and arrangements. Despite touring in 2003 and 2004 to support these projects, they were commercially unsuccessful, and the band broke up a second time. Malo continued to record as a solo artist after this second disbanding; he also produced Rick Trevino's 2003 album In My Dreams and wrote several of its songs with Hanna. After this, Hanna recorded one album in 2005 as half of the duo Hanna-McEuen, while Perez briefly toured as Dwight Yoakam's guitarist. After Hanna-McEuen disbanded, Jaime Hanna served as a touring guitarist for Gary Allan before joining his father as a member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 2018.
For live shows, Reynolds moved from playing bass guitar to acoustic guitar (which was low enough in the sound mix to be described as "inaudible" by some concert-goers); Ed Friedland was hired as the group's touring bassist. This was due to Reynolds having developed an addiction to that was affecting his playing. Also joining The Mavericks' touring band at this point were Max Abrams (saxophone, percussion), Matt Cappy (trumpet), and Michael Guerra (accordion). Reynolds was fired from the band in October 2014 after the other members learned that he was soliciting money from fans under false pretenses in order to support his addiction. His firing left Malo and Deakin as the two remaining original members. The band did not publicize Reynolds's departure, or the reasons behind it, until December. Reynolds was not replaced by a permanent band member; Ed Friedland continued as a touring bassist and session player on Mavericks recordings until 2023.
The Mavericks released their second Valory album Mono on February 7, 2015. The album was so named because it was mixed in monaural sound. As with the previous album, Malo wrote most of the songs, except for a cover of Doug Sahm's "Nitty Gritty". Country Standard Time reviewer Andy Turner stated that the album "is quite festive and certainly sounds like a band happy to be back and having a fun time." A year later, this album was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.
On August 21, 2020, the band released En Español, their first album entirely in the Spanish language. Deming stated in AllMusic that, while the album contained fewer country and pop influences than its predecessors, it also emphasized the band's Latin music roots more fully than previous projects. He concluded his review by stating that it was "adventurous and crafted with heart and skill, and that's what they've always done best."
Friedland left their touring band in 2023, at which point Malo briefly took over on bass in addition to his role as lead singer. The band announced their next album, Moon & Stars, would be released in May 2024. The announcement confirmed that the project would include a collaboration with Maggie Rose as well as a song co-written by Bernie Taupin. Prior to its release, the band went on a tour of Europe.
On June 27, 2024, Malo announced via social media that he had been diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Because of treatments, the band had to cancel several shows throughout the latter half of 2024. Also by this point, Malo reverted to guitarist when Scotty Huff joined their touring band as bassist. In August 2025, Malo reported that his cancer had worsened, leading the band to cancel all concerts for the rest of the year. At the time of this announcement, Malo revealed that in addition to intestinal cancer, he had also developed leptomeningeal cancer.
Music critics have defined the band's musical styles with a wide variety of influences. Brown thought that the success of new bands in the 1990s such as Diamond Rio, combined with the commercial appeal of more rock-influenced country bands such as The Kentucky Headhunters, would lead to The Mavericks' success. Nash wrote that they "constitute country’s coolest ensemble, synthesizing ’50s country and ’60s pop and rock with intelligence, verve, and cultural variety." John D. Buchanan of AllMusic said of the band that "Fusing traditional country with a rich variety of rock, pop, and Latin influences, the Mavericks became one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful groups of the early '90s." Rick Bell of the North County Times, in a review of Trampoline, noted that the band's use of and on the album gave it a "fuller sound" that complemented Malo's "velvety baritone". Mark Deming highlighted Nick Kane's "fine hipster jazz picking" in a review of Music for All Occasions. He also found influences of two-step in the album's "The Writing on the Wall" and Tejano music through the use of accordion on "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down", while Joel Bernstein of Country Standard Time compared the latter to Cajun music for the same reason. He also described the band's cover of "Blue Moon" as "Roy Orbison meets Dean Martin". Deming stated in a review of What a Crying Shame that "Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin are a rhythm section who can give these songs the nervy drive of a rock band without betraying the Mavericks' country leanings, and they give the covers of 'All That Heaven Will Allow' and 'O What a Thrill' a taut foundation most contemporary Nashville acts lack."
Past members
| 1994 | Academy of Country Music | Top Vocal Group | ||
| Academy of Country Music | Top New Vocal Duet or Group | |||
| 1995 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | "What a Crying Shame" | |
| Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| Academy of Country Music | Top Vocal Group | |||
| 1996 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | "Here Comes the Rain" | |
| Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Country Album | Music for All Occasions | ||
| Academy of Country Music | Top Vocal Group | |||
| 1997 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" | |
| Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| 1998 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | "I Don't Care (If You Love Me Anymore)" | |
| Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| 1999 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | "Dance the Night Away" | |
| 2015 | Grammy Awards | Best Americana Album | Mono | |
| 2017 | Grammy Awards | Best Americana Album | Brand New Day | |
| 2021 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Trailblazer Award |
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