Juan Gabriel

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.