Just
3 weeks ago, a man born on January 7, 1950, in Parácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico,
died of a heart attack. His name
was Alberto Aguilera Valadez but to his millions of fans he was Juan Gabriel.
He was gay.
The
youngest of 10 siblings, he was born to Gabriel Aguilera Rodríguez and Victoria
Valadez Ojas, poor farm workers who lived in Parácuaro, to the west of Mexico
City. After his father was taken to a psychiatric hospital, his mother moved to
the border town of Ciudad Juárez to work as a maid. But she could not afford to
care for her children, so at the age of four Alberto was placed in an
orphanage, where he remained for eight years, seeing his mother only once a
year.
By the age of 14 he was selling food and trinkets in
the street, but at the same time he started writing songs. He sang in local
bars, and later travelled to Mexico City to try to break into the music business.
There were times when he slept rough, and he was jailed for 18 months for
stealing a guitar – a theft he insisted he did not commit.
He continued to sing and to write songs, and in 1971,
when he was 21, his fortunes changed. He signed a recording contract and, under
his new stage name, Juan Gabriel, notched up his first big hit, No Tengo Dinero
(I Don’t Have Any Money), which appeared on his first album, El Alma Joven. It
marked him out as different from other singers. Rather than bragging, he was expressing
the problems of many ordinary Mexicans. Here's No Tengo Dinero:
El Alma Joven was so successful that his second and
third album, which followed at a year's distance from each other, were called El
Alma Joven II and El Alma Joven III. In 1974 he released Juan Gabriel con el
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. It contained this big hit, called Se Me Olvidó
Otra Vez (She Forgot Me Again):
In 1975, he made his acting debut in the film Nobleza Ranchera,
acting with Sara García and Verónica Castro.
Over the first fifteen years of his career, Gabriel's
fame grew as he released 20 albums and sold 20 million records. He wrote and
recorded over 1000 songs in a variety of genres. Gabriel established himself as
Mexico's leading commercial singer-songwriter, penning in many diverse styles
such as Rancheras with Mariachi, Ballads, Pop, Rock, Disco, with an incredible
string of hits for himself and for leading Latin singers including among many
others Lucha Villa, Daniela Romo and Ana Gabriel and international stars Luis
Miguel, Rocío Dúrcal and José José who in 1978 achieved international
recognition thanks to the Aguilera's ballad Lo Pasado, Pasado. His lyrics dealt
with heartbreak and romantic relationships that became hymns throughout Latin
America, Spain, and the United States.
Here's Lo Pasado, Pasado (What's In The Past, Is In The
Past) sung by José José:
Gabriel has so many hits that there's no way to hear
them all, so we'll try to highlight his biggest ones. From 1978, here's Mis Ojos
Tristes (My Sad Eyes):
Here he is with his 1979 hit Mañana, Mañana
(Tomorrow, Tomorrow), in a live performance at a later date:
In 1980 came La Diferencia (The Difference), a
beautiful song:
During the same year he released El Noa Noa. It was
inspired by the nightclub where Juan Gabriel, who was performing as
Alberto Valadez, made his debut. He was only 16. During this period, he wrote
the song.
In 1982 there was Insensible (Insensitive):
His eighteenth studio album, Recuerdos, Vol. II, holds
the distinction of being the best-selling album of all time in Mexico, with
over eight million copies sold. Here's the album's biggest hit and one of the
artist's great moments, Querida (Darling):
Gabriel was very important to the Mexican LGBTQI
community. There was a story written by a lesbian Mexican-American woman after
Juan's death, titled For Young, Queer
Mexicans Like Me, Juan Gabriel Changed Everything. The story concludes with:
El Divo (that's how his fans called him), the male
diva, was a Mexican star who never allowed the confining expectations of gender
and sexuality to limit his own expression. Because of that, he opened doors for
Mexican queerdos like me.
His public coming out, or non-coming out, was a very
clever one. When asked outright if he's gay, Gabriel responded: “Dicen que
lo que se ve no se pregunta, mijo.” (“They say you shouldn’t ask about the
things you can easily see.”) Here's the video:
In 1985 he released this duet with Rocío Dúrcal called Déjame
Vivir (Let Me Live):
In 1986 Yo No Sé Que Me Paso (I Do Not Know What Has
Happened To Me) was a #1 hit in Mexico:
Debo Hacerlo (I
Must Do It) was also a #1. This song became the last original song recorded by
Gabriel, until 1994, due to a copyright dispute with BMG over his repertoire. He
continued his career in live stage performances, setting attendance records
throughout Latin America.
In 1994 he returned with another #1 hit, Pero, ¿Qué Necesidad?
(But, Is It Necessary?):
Another of his emotional songs, Amor Eterno (Eternal
Love), was a lament for his mother, who died in 1974, and was often played at
funerals.
In 1995 he had yet another #1 hit with El Palo (The Stick):
In 1996, Mi Pueblo (My Hometown), a duet with Paul Anka,
peaked at #8:
He had two #1 hits in 1997. First, there was Te Sigo Amando
(I Still Love You):
... Then there was El Destino (Destiny), yet another
duet with Rocío Dúrcal:
Juan Gabriel entered the 21st century with yet another
#1 hit, Abrázame Muy Fuerte (Hug Me Very Tightly) (2000). I chose rather than
play the original version, to play instead his current reworking of the song,
in a duet with Laura Pausini:
Gabriel was ranked at No 18 on Billboard’s 2015 Money
Makers list, reportedly earning $11.6m from touring that year. He never forgot
his painful childhood, and founded an orphanage in Ciudad Juárez and gave
benefit concerts to aid children’s homes across Mexico. He has recorded more
than 60 albums, selling more than 100m worldwide.
Gabriel is survived by the four children, Ivan, Jean,
Hans and Joan, he had with Laura Salas. Gabriel stated that Salas was "the
best friend of my life" ("la mejor amiga de mi vida").
Gabriel never bothered to court English-speaking fans
or followers of world music, simply because he had such a vast Latin following.
But his final recording showed that he could have appealed to a wider audience.
His Spanish-language treatment of the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit Have You
Ever Seen the Rain?, renamed Gracias Al Sol, appeared on the compilation album
Quiero Creedence, released in July. It provided a reminder that he could have
been an impressive rock performer, had he wished.
Rest in peace Juan. You have really come a long way from your years as little Alberto. You showed the world that you don't have to be macho to be a
superstar, even in the midst of machismo culture. Hopefully, more like you will
follow.
I love the Creedence cover. Beautiful treatment. Was this
ReplyDeletepopular? Because it should be.
I'm not familiar with most of his material but those that you showcased are very enjoyable despite the language barrier (for me). I can see where his popularity is through the roof in Latino households as I would probably love growing up with this music. Gracias.
Hey RM! I love the Credence cover too. I don't think that it was released as a single: it was part of a CCR tribute album.
DeleteI too wasn't aware of Gabriel's work until I began studying him. Since then I found both his work, as well as his life, fascinating. In fact, I would have liked to be able to read more on his pre-fame life. I mean, a penniless gay teen going to Mexico City in the late 60s and living in the streets until he made it... There should be quite a story there. Unfortunately, we'll probably never find out...
No tengo palabras...
DeleteYo tampoco. :)
DeleteActually yianang, if he's as big in the Latin World as I've read, there will undoubtabley be some manner of tribute whether in the movies, television or even Broadway. The question is, how truthful or white-washed it will be. If left to American showrunners, don't expect much.
ReplyDeleteMy feeling is that all the "interesting" details will be left out, RM.
Delete