Emilio Navaira III was born in 1962 as the third patriline Navaira to be named Emilio Navaira. He was born in San Antonio, Texas. He is Mexican heritage and son of Emilio Navaira, Jr. and Mary Navaira. Emilio began singing to Willie Nelson, George Strait and "Little Joe" tunes at an early age and initially thought of being a music teacher.

At age 23, Emilio began his performing career by singing lead vocals for David Lee Garza y Los Musicales in 1985. In 1987, Cuantas Veces by David Lee Garza Y Los Musicales beat out Alpha by Mexican American singer Selena for Album of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards. In 1989, Navaira formed his own band, Emilio y Groupo Rio. That same year Emilio signed with Columbia Records. During this relationship, Emilio recorded more than fifteen studio albums, including several with his Rio Band.

Emilio Navaira did more than anyone to popularize tejano music during the early to mid-'90s. Though his popularity waned in the wake of his 1995 crossover into the country music market with the English-language album Life Is Good (1995), he remained influential and was rightfully regarded as a tejano legend. First, he established himself as the lead singer of David Lee Garza y los Musicales.

During his tenure with the group from 1984 until 1988, Garza y los Musicales regularly took home Tejano Music Awards, winning Album of the Year honors in 1985, 1987, and 1989. Navaira split from Los Musicales to form his own band, Rio, with his brother Raul. Navaira and Rio debuted in 1989 and, over the next five years, enjoyed remarkable success, commercially as well as critically.

His 1995 country-crossover album "Life Is Good" was perhaps his greatest success, but his popularity began to wane in its wake. In subsequent years, Navaira continued to perform and recorded new albums.

In 2003, he won Grammy Award for his album "Acuerdate".

The release of "Life Is Good" in 2005 marked a turning point in Navaira's recording career. "Life Is Good" is an English-language album that was oriented toward the national country music market rather than the regional Mexican scene. The lead single, "It's Not the End of the World," was released in both English- and Spanish-language versions and became a Top 30 country hit. The album itself debuted at number 12 on the country albums chart. A series of follow-up singles -- "Even If I Tried," "I Think We're on to Something," and "Have I Told You Lately" -- also charted at numbers 41, 56, and 62, respectively.

In 2007, after another extended period out of the consumer marketplace, Navaira reemerged with a new album, De Nuevo, on a new record label, Universal Music Group. Roughly a half-year after the release of De Nuevo, Navaira suffered a tragic accident while touring in support of the album. On the morning of March 23, 2008, his 26,000-pound tour bus slammed into traffic barrels on a highway southwest of Houston.