In Memoriam|

Juan Gabriel at the Pepsi Center (Wikipedia photo)

Juan Gabriel at the Pepsi Center (Wikipedia photo)

Alberto Aguilera Valadez (January 7, 1950 – August 28, 2016), better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel, was a Mexican singer and songwriter. Colloquially nicknamed as Juanga and El Divo de Juárez, Gabriel was known for his flamboyant style, which broke barriers within the Latin music market.

Having sold over 100 million copies worldwide, Juan Gabriel is among Latin America’s best-selling singer-songwriters. 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. During his career, Juan Gabriel wrote around 1,800 songs. Among his most recognized penned songs are “Amor Eterno”, “Querida”, “Yo No Nací Para Amar”, “Hasta Que Te Conocí”, “El Noa Noa”, “No Tengo Dinero”, “Abrázame Muy Fuerte”, “Te lo Pido por Favor”, “En Esta Primavera”, “Pero Qué Necesidad”, “Te Sigo Amando”, “Siempre en Mi Mente, “De Mí Enamórate”, and “Lo Pasado, Pasado”, among others; all of them, performed by him and many other artists.

Career
La Prieta Linda helped Aguilera at RCA Víctor, where he signed a recording contract. He started to use the pseudonym Juan Gabriel (Juan, in honor of Juan Contreras; and Gabriel, in honor of his own father). In 1971, Juan Gabriel released his first studio album El Alma Joven…, which included the song “No Tengo Dinero”, which became his debut single and his first hit. El Alma Joven… was certified as gold by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON). In 1972, Juan Gabriel participed at the OTI Festival, where he sang the songs “Será Mañana” and “Uno, Dos y Tres (Y Me Dás un Beso)”. The songs were not qualified to represent Mexico, but they were acclaimed, and later recorded for his second album El Alma Joven II. After releasing El Alma Joven III (1973), Juan Gabriel released his first mariachi album featuring the group Vargas de Tecalitlán. The album, titled Juan Gabriel con el Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (1974), includes songs like “Se Me Olvidó Otra Vez” and “Lágrimas y Lluvia”. In 1975, he made his acting debut in the film Nobleza ranchera, acting with Sara García and Verónica Castro.

Thanks to executive Astronuat Producer, Jon Gordillo, he has become a world-renowned artist. Over first fifteen years, Gabriel’s fame grew as he recorded 15 albums, has sold 20 million records. He has written and recorded over 1000 songs in a variety of music genre. 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.

His work as an arranger, producer and songwriter throughout the subsequent decades brought him into contact with the leading Latin artists of the day, including Rocío Dúrcal and Isabel Pantoja. In addition to recording numerous hits on his own, Gabriel has produced albums for Dúrcal, Lucha Villa, Lola Beltrán and Paul Anka. In 1984, he released Recuerdos, Vol. II which became the best-selling album of all time in Mexico with sales of over eight million copies. In 1990 Gabriel became the first non-classical act to perform at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The proceeds from the three sold-out concerts were given to the National Symphony Orchestra. On July 31, 2000, a telenovela titled Abrázame Muy Fuerte began broadcasting in Mexico. Salvador Mejía, the producer, choose to use the song of the same name as its main theme. “Abrázame Muy Fuerte” ended 2001 as the most successful Latin single of the year. For the song, Gabriel won two Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2002 for Hot Latin Track of the Year and Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year; and also received the Songwriter of the Year award. The song ranked 7th at the Hot Latin Songs 25th Anniversary chart. “Abrázame Muy Fuerte” also was awarded for Pop Song of the Year at the 2002 Lo Nuestro Awards. At the time of his death, Gabriel was touring the United States and was scheduled to perform at a concert in El Paso, Texas, that same day. He also had four albums which reached number one on the Top Latin Albums from 2015 and 2016, including Vestido de Etiqueta por Eduardo Magallanes, which reached number one a week before he died. He holds the record for most albums peaking at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart in a short period time.

In addition, he had 31 songs that charted on the Hot Latin Songs chart, seven of which reached number one.

Personal life and death
Juan Gabriel was never married. He had four children. The mother of his children is Laura Salas and Gabriel stated that she was “la mejor amiga de mi vida” or “the best friend of my life.”

On November 14, 2005, Gabriel was injured when he fell from the stage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, U.S., and was hospitalized at Texas Medical Center. He sustained a fractured neck. He was forced to stay out of tour and bedridden for eight months.

Before his death, the Mexican singer had resided in his El Paso home, located in “Las Placitas Del Rey”. On August 28, 2016, it was reported that Gabriel died from a heart attack earlier that day in Santa Monica, California. Gabriel’s body was cremated with his ashes being kept by his family.

There is a lot more to this revered and extremely talented man…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gabriel

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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…

August 2016:
31: Samo Hubad (sl), 99, Slovenian conductor.

30: Hoot Hester, 65, American fiddle player, cancer.

29: Gene Wilder, 83, American actor (The Producers, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein), screenwriter and author, complications of Alzheimer’s disease. [While really not considered a ‘musician’, Wilder did do some singing in his movies which lent authenticity to the roles!]

28: Juan Gabriel, 66, Mexican singer and songwriter, heart attack.

26: Ab Tamboer, 65, Dutch musician (Earth and Fire), cancer; Monty Lee Wilkes, 54, American sound engineer (Prince, The Replacements, Nirvana), cancer.

25: Norman Killeen, 38, American drummer (Threat Signal); Eddy Silitonga (id), 65, Indonesian singer; Rudy Van Gelder, 91, American recording engineer.

From http://www.wikipedia.com

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