Texas Tornados Member, Tex-Mex Music Legend Augie Meyers Dies

He was an American music original, a Texas music legend, a beloved member of the Tex-Mex/Tejano music community, and a psychedelic rocker before he was anything else. He was Augie Meyers—the keys and accordion player for the Sir Douglas Quintet, the legendary supergroup The Texas Tornados, and Doug Sahm’s right hand man for decades. His death on March 7th marks the end of and era as the final Texas Tornados member to pass on. He was 85 years old.

Though Augie Meyers might have not been the household name that fellow Texas Tornados members Freddy Fender, or Flaco Jiménez were when the band first formed, there was a reason his name was presented as equal with the other members, along with bass player Speedy Sparks. Meyers was as essential to making the unique sound as anyone, both as a keys player and on accordion, while also singing on many of the Tornados songs.

To the rest of The Texas Tornados, it was Meyers they were enamored to play with. And through his work with the supergroup, Augie achieved that household name status.

Born in San Antonio on May 31st, 1940, Augie Meyers was raised by his grandparents until he was 10 years old on a farm outside of town with no electricity, a woodstove, and an outhouse. He had polio as a child, which meant he couldn’t walk. But about half a mile down the road from where he lived was a family with a piano. They would prop Augie in front of it, tied a rope around his leg so he wouldn’t try and crawl away, left him some cookies and water, and he would sit in front of the instrument for hours, banging away. That’s how he became a musician.

Augie Meyers would meet Doug Sahm when he was 12. Augie’s parent had a grocery store, and Sahm would come in to trade baseball cards. They would open packages, find desirable cards they wanted, swapped out their lesser cards, and re-seal the packages for sale.

When the Sir Douglas Quintet was founded in 1964 in San Antonio, it was the Texas answer to the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene, and America’s answer to the British Invasion. Doug Sahm was already semi-famous in Texas, having sung on the radio starting at the age of five, and played at the final official show of Hank Williams in Texas when he was 11. Sir Douglas would eventually relocate to San Francisco, and break out into the national scene with their debut single “She’s About a Mover.”

It might have been Doug Sahm’s infectious energy that set audiences on fire. But it was the Vox organ of Augie Meyers that set the foundation for the sound.

Over the years, the Sir Douglas Quintet and Doug Sahm’s solo efforts became famous for mixing in more country, Tex-Mex, and other influences into American rock ‘n roll. This whole time, the Sir Douglas and Doug Sahm sound had one constant—the keyboard and accordion of Augie Meyers. 1989 is when the idea of a Texas music supergroup was hatched, taking this unique sound inspired by Texas, and turning it into something that could take it international. The Texas Tornados were born.

Along with helping to popularize Tejano, conjunto, and Norteño sounds in North America, the group won a Grammy Award for their song “Soy De San Luis,” and picked up two more nominations over their tenure, releasing six albums before Doug Sahm passed away in 1999. Arguably the band’s biggest song and an unofficial anthem of Texas is “(Hey Baby) Que Paso.” But it wasn’t Doug Sahm or Freddy Fender who sang lead on it. It was Augie.

When Flaco Jiménez died on July of 2025, and later Speedy Sparks in October of 2025, this left Augie as a the last surviving original Tornados member. The band would still perform with Augie, and Doug’s son Shawn Sahm filling in for his father.

Also with his work with the Sir Douglas Quintet and The Texas Tornados, Augie Meyers was active in music in other capacities. Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Raul Malo of The Mavericks, Tom Jones, and John P. Hammond are just some of the performers who solicited the services of Augie over the years, looking to capture that hot Texas Vox organ sound on their recordings.

Augie Meyers also operated his own record labels over the years, including Superbeet Records, White Boy Records, and El Sendero. Through these labels and others, Augie released over a dozen solo albums where he would alternate between piano, organ, and guitar. This included his dedicated country album from 2009, appropriately titled Country, and 2024’s Chicken Fried Bacon Grease, which once again found Augie keeping the unique sound and rhythms of the Tex-Mex spirit alive.

The music of Augie Meyers delivered joy to many, instilled distinct culture into American music, and popularized the Tex-Mex sound to the world.

Augie Meyers passed away in his sleep.

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