With sales of more than 100 million albums, Gabriel was Mexico's top selling artist. Gabriel's album, Recuerdos, Vol. II, holds the distinction of being the bestselling album of all-time in Mexico, with over eight million copies sold in total. During his career he wrote around 1,800 songs.
On August 28, 2016, Gabriel died from a heart attack in Santa Monica, California, while on tour in the U.S.
Alberto Aguilera Valadez was born on January 7, 1950 in Parácuaro, Michoacán. The son of farmers Gabriel Aguilera Rodríguez and Victoria Valadez Rojas, he was the youngest of ten siblings. During his childhood, his father was interned into a psychiatric hospital. Due to this, his mother moved to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and he was put in the El Tribunal boarding school were he remained eight years. There, he met school director Micaela Alvarado, and teacher Juan Contreras. Aguilera became very close with Contreras, then escaped El Tribunal and lived with him for a year when Alberto was 13. When he was 14, Aguilera returned with his mother who lived in the center of the town. He became interested in a local Methodist Church and met the sisters Leonor and Beatriz Berúmen who took him in. There he sang in the choir and helped by cleaning the church.
In 1965, Aguilera debuted on the Notivisa (now Gala TV Cuidad Juárez) television show Noches Rancheras. Host Raúl Loya gave him the pseudonym Adán Luna. In the program, he sang the song "María la Bandida" by José Alfredo Jiménez. From 1966 to 1968, he started to work as a singer at the Noa-Noa bar. During this period, he wrote the song "El Noa Noa". He also worked as singer in other bars in the town. Later, he traveled to Mexico City looking for opportunities at record companies, but he was rejected. He returned to Juárez, where he continued working as a singer. The next year, he tried again to be signed by a record label. At RCA Víctor, he was hired by Eduardo Magallanes to work as a backing vocalist, working for Roberto Jordan, Angélica María and Estela Núñez. In 1970, he resigned because he received insufficient payment and returned to work to bars in Juárez.
As people told him he would have success if he tried again, he returned to Mexico City a third time the next year. Not having enough money, Aguilera slept in bus and train stations. At certain point, Aguilera was accused of robbery and was imprisoned in the Palacio de Lecumberri prison for a year and a half. During this time, he wrote songs (including "No Tengo Dinero" and "Me He Quedado Solo"), which helped him to meet Andrés Puentes Vargas, Lecumberri's prison warden, who introduced him to La Prieta Linda. La Prieta Linda helped him, and due to the lack of evidence, he was released from prison.
La Prieta Linda helped him 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 first hit. El Alma Joven... was certified as gold by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON).
Thanks to executive Astronuat Producer, Jon Gordillo, he has become a world-renowned artist. Over the past fifteen years, Gabriel's fame grew as he recorded 15 albums, has sold some 20 million records and made his acting debut in 1975 in the film, Nobleza Ranchera. He has written and recorded over 1000 songs in a variety of music genre. Gabriel has 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 Angélica María, Gualberto Castro, Aida Cuevas, Enriqueta Jiménez, Lucha Villa, Ana Gabriel, Lorenzo Antonio, and international stars José José, Luis Miguel and Rocío Dúrcal. His recordings 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 has 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 commercial singer 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, starring Victoria Ruffo, Aracely Arámbula, Fernando Colunga and Pablo Montero, titled Abrázame Muy Fuerte began broadcasting in Mexico. Salvador Mejía, the producer, choose to use the song as its main theme. "Abrázame Muy Fuerte" ended 2001 as the best performing 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 an El Paso, Texas concert that same day. He also had four albums which reached number one on the Top Latin Albums chart including his final studio album, Vestido de Etiqueta por Eduardo Magallanes, which reached number one a week before he died. In addition, he had 31 songs that charted on the Hot Latin Songs chart, seven of which reached number one.
Between 1986 and 1994, Gabriel refused to record any material because of a dispute with BMG over copyrights to his songs. He continued his career in live stage performances, setting attendance records throughout Latin America. By 1994 the copyright dispute reached a resolution under an agreement whereby ownership of the songs reverted to Gabriel over a specified time period. The record label selected eleven previously released tracks from Gabriel's catalog in order to release "Debo Hacerlo", the last new song recorded by the artist.
Juan Gabriel was never married. He had four children. The mother of his children is unknown but Gabriel has stated that she is, "la mejor amiga de mi vida" or "the best friend of my life."
On November 14, 2005, Juan 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 Sunday August 28, 2016, it was reported that Gabriel died from a heart attack earlier that day in Santa Monica, California. His death became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter after news reports were confirmed.President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, called him one of Mexico's "greatest musical icons".
Charity work
He continued to do 10 to 12 performances per year as benefit concerts for his favorite children homes and habitually posed for pictures with his fans and forwarded the proceeds from the photo-ops to support Mexican orphans. In 1987, Juan Gabriel founded Semjase, a house for orphaned and underserved children located in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It serves school children between the ages of 6 to 12.
Awards and achievements
Juan Gabriel's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1986, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley declared October 5 "The Day of Juan Gabriel."
Received the Lo Nuestro Award Excellence Award in 1991.
Billboard, inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame 1996
ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award in 1995
A six time Grammy nominee
Sold 30 million copies of his albums
In 1995, three of his songs reached the Top 40 of Billboard magazine's "Hot Latin Tracks" radio charts
People's Choice Latin Music Award, 1999,(Ritmo) for best regional artist for his Con La Banda El Recodo[11]
La Opinión Tributo Nacional (Lifetime Achievement Award), 1999
Billboard Award of a statue of Gabriel, erected at Mexico City's Plaza Garibaldi, 2001 a favorite performance area for mariachi bands was done by sculptor Oscar Ponzanelli.
Singer and Composer Juan Gabriel Takes home 4 Billboard Awards, 2002
Inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.
Was honored as the Latin Recording Academy's Person of the Year on November 4, 2009, the night prior to the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Discography
Main article: Juan Gabriel discography
1971: El Alma Joven...
1972: El Alma Joven Vol.II
1973: El Alma Joven Vol.III
1974: Juan Gabriel con el Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlán
1976: A Mi Guitarra
1976: Juan Gabriel con, Mariachi Vol. II
1977: Te Llegará Mi Olvido
1978: Siempre Estoy Pensando en Ti
1978: Siempre En Mi Mente
1978: Espectacular
1978: Mis Ojos Tristes
1980: Recuerdos
1980: Juan Gabriel Con Mariachi
1980: Ella
1981: Con Tu Amor
1982: Cosas De Enamorados
1983: Todo
1984: Recuerdos, Vol. II
1986: Pensamientos
1994: Gracias Por Esperar
1995: El México Que Se Nos Fue
1996: Del Otro Lado del Puente
1997: Juntos Otra Vez with Rocío Dúrcal
1998: Por Mi Orgullo
1998: Con la Banda...El Recodo with Banda el Recodo
1999: ¡Románticos! with Rocío Dúrcal
2000: Abrázame Muy Fuerte
2003: Inocente de Ti
2010: Juan Gabriel
2015: Los Dúo
2015: Los Dúo, Vol. 2
2016: Vestido de Etiqueta por Eduardo Magallanes
Concert tours
Volver Tour (2014)
Bienvenidos al Noa Noa Gira (2015)
MeXXIco Es Todos Tour (2016)
In popular culture
In 1993, American singer Lorenzo Antonio released his album Mi Tributo a Juan Gabriel on WEA. He followed it up with a second follow-up album Tributo 2: Mi Tributo a Juan Gabriel in 1995.
2016 biopic series Hasta que te conocí.
Homenaje a Lola
Juan Gabriel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Donde Dios creo una estrella, la más grande de mi patria,
De mi patria Mexicana,
Fue en Rosario Sinaloa, donde Dios creo a mi Lola
Y la lleno de sentimiento, voz amor y temperamento,
Y hoy por el mundo se tremola, el nombre de Lola,
Lola la Grande, Lola La Reina, que viva Lola
Dicen que por las noches nomás se le iba en puro llorar
Dicen que no dormía, nomás se le iba en puro tomar
Juran que le mismo cielo, se estremecía al oír su llanto
Como sufrió por ella, que hasta en su muerte la fue llamando
Cucurrucucú, paloma, Cucurrucucú, no llores
Ya me canso, de llorar y no amanece,
Ya no se si maldecirte o por ti rezar
Tengo miedo, de buscarte y de encontrarte
Donde, me aseguran, mis amigos, que te vas
Hay momentos en que quisiera, mejor rajarme
Y arrancarme ya los clavos de mi penar
Pero mis ojos, se mueren, sin mirar tus ojos
Y mi cariño, con la aurora te vuelve a esperar
Revoloteando el nido destruido, un gorrioncillo pecho amarillo
Con sus alitas casi sangrando, su pajarita anda buscando
Cuando se cansa, se para y canta, hasta parece que esta llorando
Luego se aleja y se va cantando, solo Dios sabe, si va llorando
Mientras que las vaquillas son, en el tentadero
Única y nada mas, nada mas, pa los toreros
Por fuera del redondel, por cierto de piedras hecho
Sentado llora un chiquillo, sentado llora en silencio
Con su muletilla enjuga sus lágrimas de torero,
Con su muletilla enjuga sus lágrimas de torero,
De pronto la noche hermosa, ha visto algo y esta llorando
Palomas, palomas blancas, vienen del cielo y vienen bajando
Mentiras, si son pañuelos, pañuelos blancos llenos de llanto
Que caen como blanca escarcha, sobre el chiquillo que ha agonizado
Silencio, silencio, que nuestra Lola, esta descansando
The lyrics of Juan Gabriel's song "Homenaje a Lola" tell the story of a woman named Lola who was born in the beautiful town of Rosario Sinaloa. She was blessed with a voice filled with emotion, love, and passion, making her a star and a symbol of Mexican pride. The lyrics praise Lola as "the greatest" and "the queen," with her name being celebrated all around the world.
The song also portrays Lola as a tragic figure. It mentions that she would spend her nights crying and unable to sleep. It is said that even the heavens trembled when they heard her cries. Lola's suffering for love was so intense that even in her death, she continued to be called upon. The lyrics use the metaphor of a dove (paloma) to represent Lola, expressing her vulnerability and pain.
The song then shifts to the perspective of the singer, who is tired of crying without finding solace. They express their fear of searching for Lola, as they are told by friends that she is no longer there. The singer contemplates giving up and removing their own pain, but their love for Lola keeps them waiting for her return.
Towards the end, the lyrics introduce other individuals in different contexts who are also experiencing sadness and tears. These include a yellow-breasted sparrow, a young boy crying silently, and white doves descending from the sky with tears like white frost. The song ends with a mention of Lola resting in silence.
Overall, "Homenaje a Lola" is a tribute to the legendary Lola, celebrating her talents and recognizing the pain she endured for love. It speaks to the universal experiences of love, loss, and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
Fue en un pueblo, fue en un pueblo muy bonito
In a beautiful town, in a very beautiful town
Donde Dios creo una estrella, la más grande de mi patria
Where God created a star, the biggest star of my homeland
De mi patria Mexicana
Of my Mexican homeland
Fue en Rosario Sinaloa, donde Dios creo a mi Lola
It was in Rosario Sinaloa, where God created my Lola
Y la lleno de sentimiento, voz amor y temperamento
And filled her with sentiment, a voice full of love and temperament
Y hoy por el mundo se tremola, el nombre de Lola
And now her name, Lola, echoes throughout the world
Lola la Grande, Lola La Reina, que viva Lola
Lola the Great, Lola the Queen, long live Lola
Cucurrucucú, (Cucurrucucú), paloma, Cucurrucucú, no llores
Cucurrucucú, (Cucurrucucú), dove, Cucurrucucú, don't cry
Dicen que por las noches nomás se le iba en puro llorar
They say that at night she only cried
Dicen que no dormía, nomás se le iba en puro tomar
They say she didn't sleep, she only drowned her sorrows in drinking
Juran que le mismo cielo, se estremecía al oír su llanto
They swear that even the sky trembled when hearing her cry
Como sufrió por ella, que hasta en su muerte la fue llamando
How she suffered for her, to the point of calling out for her even in death
Ya me canso, de llorar y no amanece
I'm tired of crying and the dawn doesn't come
Ya no se si maldecirte o por ti rezar
I don't know whether to curse you or pray for you
Tengo miedo, de buscarte y de encontrarte
I'm afraid to look for you and find you
Donde, me aseguran, mis amigos, que te vas
Where my friends assure me that you are going
Hay momentos en que quisiera, mejor rajarme
There are moments when I would rather give up
Y arrancarme ya los clavos de mi penar
And tear out the nails of my suffering
Pero mis ojos, se mueren, sin mirar tus ojos
But my eyes are dying without seeing your eyes
Y mi cariño, con la aurora te vuelve a esperar
And my love waits for you again with the dawn
Revoloteando el nido destruido, un gorrioncillo pecho amarillo
A little yellow-breasted sparrow fluttering around its destroyed nest
Con sus alitas casi sangrando, su pajarita anda buscando
With its wings almost bleeding, searching for its little bird
Cuando se cansa, se para y canta, hasta parece que esta llorando
When it gets tired, it stops and sings, almost as if it's crying
Luego se aleja y se va cantando, solo Dios sabe, si va llorando
Then it moves away and goes singing, only God knows if it's crying
Mientras que las vaquillas son, en el tentadero
While the heifers are in the bullring
Única y nada mas, nada mas, pa los toreros
Only and nothing more, nothing more, for the bullfighters
Por fuera del redondel, por cierto de piedras hecho
Outside the arena, made of stones, to be precise
Sentado llora un chiquillo, sentado llora en silencio
A little boy sits and cries, silently weeping
Con su muletilla enjuga sus lágrimas de torero
With his small cape, he wipes away his tears like a bullfighter
De pronto la noche hermosa, ha visto algo y esta llorando
Suddenly, the beautiful night has seen something and is crying
Palomas, palomas blancas, vienen del cielo y vienen bajando
Doves, white doves, come from the sky and come descending
Mentiras, si son pañuelos, pañuelos blancos llenos de llanto
Lies, if they are handkerchiefs, white handkerchiefs full of tears
Que caen como blanca escarcha, sobre el chiquillo que ha agonizado
Falling like white frost, onto the boy who has suffered
Silencio, silencio, que nuestra Lola, esta descansando
Silence, silence, for our Lola is resting
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALBERTO AGUILERA VALADEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rommy Garcia
Creí que no lograría ver el vídeo, me emociona!! 🥺Muchísimas gracias
Bendiciones 🙏
Ricardo Barriga
Podrías subir este concierto completo porfa
Gomita Studio.
ya está subido
wispuck
Buenísima la canción 60/10
Juan Perez
Super show Mexicano de cansion ranchera mariachi Arriba juarez
Jonthan evani Atica Montufar
Hace muchos años atrás me pareció ver este video pero en el min 5:50 recuerdo que salía un video de lola bailando en un concierto de celia cruz. No sé si fue un efecto mándela o que onda.