Hoo Lawd! I was born to be alive! The late Mr Hernandez.
Do you have a source for this? Chuck Eddy and I ended up getting into a conversation on this and couldn't confirm.
I swore I remembered hearing it in the '80s -- that he had died of AIDS. But since you asked, I went looking on the internet and couldn't find it for confirmation either. Maybe I have him confused with Patrick Cowley?