Raul Malo’s death this week has left music fans heartbroken, but it turns out The Mavericks frontman had one final message for everyone.

Malo, 60, died on Dec. 8 after a battle with stage 4 colon cancer and leptomeningeal disease. His death came just days after his group hosted a two-night show honoring him on Dec. 5-6 at the Ryman Auditorium.

Malo was slated to be in attendance for the shows, but he was rushed to the hospital on the eve of it all and did not make it out before his death.

But, according to Rolling Stone , Malo received the American Eagle Award for his “lifelong commitment to the preservation of the multilingual American music repertoire,” at the mid-point of Friday’s show and he sent a letter to be read to fans.

“Music has been the guiding force of my entire life

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