Adan Sanchez, at 19; Latin singer, teen idol

LOS ANGELES -- Adan Sanchez, who was nurtured in Southern California's burgeoning immigrant music scene and emerged this year as a star, died Saturday in a car crash in Sinaloa, Mexico. He was 19.

Mr. Sanchez, of Paramount, Calif., was on a promotional trip through northwestern Mexico on Saturday when the 1989 Ford Crown Victoria he was in blew a tire and overturned, the Mexican highway patrol said.

The handsome singer, who was the son of slain narco-corrido music legend Chalino Sanchez, was not wearing his seat belt and died instantly, funeral officials said.

Mr. Sanchez's father, a singer/ songwriter who had gained notoriety for his musical tales, known as narco-corridos, about criminal escapades, was slain execution-style 12 years ago in the same state. The coincidence of his son dying in an area known for its drug cartels and violence fueled speculation that the car crash had not been an accident. But police said there was no indication of foul play.

Mr. Sanchez was 8 in 1992 when his father was kidnapped and killed after a performance in Sinaloa. But unlike his gun-slinging father, the younger Sanchez nurtured an image as a suave, sharply dressed, romantic teenage idol.

"There was just this wholesome quality about him, very down-to-earth," said Marco Antonio Gonzales, a spokesman for Univision Music Group who worked closely with the younger Sanchez. "He was one of the very few good role models for Latino kids. I can say, from what I know, that he led quite an impeccable life. He was just a good kid."

Within hours, news of the accident sparked tearful calls to radio stations from fans and public vigils on both sides of the border, signals of the growing popularity of the charismatic artist, who had made an impressive debut as a mainstream headliner on March 20 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Mourners gathered from East Los Angeles to Escuinapa, lighting votive candles, playing Mr. Sanchez's CDs, and singing along to his simple but catchy love songs.

Mr. Sanchez, who adopted Chalino as his middle name, grew up in the shadow of his father. He began singing -- badly at first, he once admitted -- and recorded seven undistinguished albums for local labels before signing with Univision, the leading Latin music company in the United States. His first Univision release, last year's "Un Sonador," continued to burnish his matinee image but marked no new musical direction.

It was not until his surprisingly successful Kodak concert that the baby-faced performer in the Stetson hat and pinstripe suit proved that he could do more than make girls swoon. He earned praise for his stylistic flexibility and a natural command of the stage that displayed a maturity beyond his years. Writing in the Spanish-language daily La Opinion, critic Enrique Lopetegui labeled Sanchez "the Mexican version of Garth Brooks: spectacular, imaginative, and willing to stretch the border of his own style."