The Riojan music and the associative movement against ALS bid farewell to Iván Fernández, former drummer of Vuelo 505 and one of the founders of VencELA Rioja, who passed away this Friday September 25 at the age of 45 after living for years with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His former bandmates and various Riojan media have confirmed his death and have recalled both his musical career and his involvement in raising awareness of the disease.
Fernández, known in the music world as "Butch", had to gradually step away from the drums as the symptoms progressed, but remained closely linked to Vuelo 505. He also devoted a good part of his last years to advocating for the needs of people with ALS, an activity he developed especially through VencELA Rioja.
A decade behind the drums of Vuelo 505
Vuelo 505 was born in Logroño in 2013, when Rubén Fernández gathered the musicians to shape the songs he had been composing for some time. Iván Fernández occupied the drums alongside Rubén Fernández on vocals and guitar, David de la Fuente on guitar, and Chema García on bass.
The group became one of the recognizable names in Riojan rock over the years. They released "Turbulencias" in 2015, "No hay historias de fracaso" in 2018, and "Nada es tan urgente" in 2023, a third work in whose recording Fernández still participated despite the disease beginning to limit his activity. For concerts, the lineup then started to include another drummer.
During their trajectory, Vuelo 505 shared the stage and projects with different names in Spanish rock. In 2017, they served as the opening act for Robe Iniesta during the San Mateo festivities in Logroño, while their albums featured collaborations from musicians like Kutxi Romero, Pau Donés, or Alberto Pérez.
For Fernández, music continued to be a fundamental part of his life even when he could no longer face the physical demands of drumming normally.
From music to raising awareness of ALS
The diagnosis also transformed his public activity. Fernández began to openly explain how ALS progressed and the daily difficulties associated with a neurodegenerative disease that causes a progressive loss of muscular capacity.
This experience led him to get involved in VencELA Rioja, created in October 2022 by a group of affected individuals and family members. The association was born because La Rioja did not have a specific territorial entity that offered a support network for ALS patients until then.
The organization works on accompanying the sick and their families, advising on resources and procedures, providing psychological support, and making visible the needs that arise as the disease progresses. VencELA states that in La Rioja there are between 40 and 50 people diagnosed with ALS.
The entity was also declared an association of public utility in March 2026 by the Ministry of the Interior, a recognition that came four years after its creation.
"Stop worrying about nonsense"
Fernández left a farewell message that was published after his passing. In it, he thanked the people who had been part of his 45 years of life and summarized a way of facing the disease that he had maintained publicly in recent times.
"Stop worrying about nonsense and make the most of each day as if it were the last", he wrote in one of the passages of his farewell.
The musician also spoke of his 45 years as a "beautiful sigh" and expressed his gratitude for the life he had lived. Fernández was also the father of a daughter, whom he had mentioned in various interviews when talking about how his life had changed since the arrival of the disease.
Flight 505: "In this band, we will always be five"
Especially emotional has been the farewell from his companions in Vuelo 505. The band published a photograph of Fernández accompanied by a message that makes it clear that the drummer will continue to be part of the group's history.
"Today you have gone to your planet and we already miss you", wrote the band, which added: "In this band, we will always be 5" and closed their farewell wishing that "your drums resonate".
The phrase summarizes the bond that Fernández maintained with the project even after the progression of ALS made it impossible to continue playing live. His place behind the drums was filled for the concerts, but his name remained linked to Vuelo 505.
A mark in music and in the fight against ALS
The death of Iván Fernández thus leaves two trajectories that ended up crossing. On one hand, more than a decade linked to Riojan rock and Vuelo 505; on the other, a stage in which he used his own illness to demand more support for those living with ALS.
VencELA Rioja was born precisely to fill that gap. Since its creation, it has organized awareness activities, solidarity actions, and support services aimed at both patients and their families.
Fernández's farewell has provoked numerous messages in the Riojan cultural sphere and among those linked to the fight against ALS. He was 45 years old and had managed to ensure that his name was no longer associated solely with a drum set: he was also linked to an association created so that future ALS patients in La Rioja would not have to face the diagnosis alone.