Molotov’s Tito Fuentes turns 52 after nearly becoming a papaya farmer

Tito Fuentes, the guitarist and singer of Molotov, turned 52 on Sunday, Sept. 6. He has spent 30 of those years with the Mexican band, but his life could have taken a very different direction: growing Hawaiian papayas on his father’s ranch.

Fuentes, also known as Tito or Mayel, earned fans’ admiration through songs including “Here we kum,” “Voto latino” and “Put*.” His temporary departure from Molotov initially worried supporters, who wondered whether he would return to the quartet he formed with Miky Huidobro, Paco Ayala and Randy Ebright.

The band has said that Fuentes’ recovery will continue for a long time. Other musicians have taken his place at live shows, including Paco Huidobro, Miky’s brother, Jay de la Cueva and, currently, Álvaro Contreras, known as Alemán.

Years earlier, before that pause, Fuentes nearly left music altogether. His friendship with Huidobro drew him into the scene. Huidobro taught him to play bass and invited him to join La Candelaria, the group where he began. Poor organisation eventually pushed the two friends to form their own band, Molotov.

Fuentes still had responsibilities at the papaya ranch his father had left him. But after Molotov won first place in Coca-Cola’s 1995 band competition, the group members kept their promise to abandon their other projects and focus entirely on the band. “The papaya ranch went under. We were going to export them, 52 hectares, and then a hailstorm hit, something that never happened in that climate. The fruit was destroyed, nothing could be sold, the ranch collapsed, and that night I came to the Teatro de la Ciudad and we won the competition. I told my father, ‘I tried.’ It was like a movie,” Fuentes said in an interview with Javier Paniagua.

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The papaya ranch went under. We were going to export them, 52 hectares, and then a hailstorm hit, something that never happened in that climate. The fruit was destroyed, nothing could be sold, the ranch collapsed, and that night I came to the Teatro de la Ciudad and we won the competition. I told my father, ‘I tried.’ It was like a movie.