Juan Gabriel: Humble Beginnings

And just like that, we're back with an all new season of Becoming an Icon. Joseph, I have been waiting for this moment since we did our last episode of season one.

Mm hmm, bench do not get me started. I am so so ready for this. Who are we going to talk about next?

We're kicking off season two with none other than Elivo himself.

El Divo like opera singers, No, whoa?

What would they be doing here? I'm becoming an icon?

Okay, just kidding, I know El Divo there is we.

Are talking about One Gabriel.

If you're a Mexican, you definitely know Huanky's with that magnificent voice, is unforgettable style and commanding stage presence.

One Gabriel is a legendary icon.

Can you believe?

It has been eight years since he's passed, but his memory lives on through us belting his signature songs while cooking, cleaning, at all the family functions, at every Ganessa that you get the picture?

Oh yeah, for sure. I mean Wanghi's was present at Maibodha, Will he be president at Yurboda?

One million? P? Three?

And of course One Gabriel's career has spanned more than forty years, making him the best selling artist in Mexican history. Get this, he wrote over eighteen hundred songs for himself and he even wrote for other artists in a variety of styles. I'm talking ranchettras to rock.

I mean that many.

But you know what's so special he can actually write it all so make us all emo and the other ones make us want to like.

A dance exactly. I feel like his music transcends language, and that's also why he's a global icon.

And speaking of iconic, let's not forget about how that man served the looks long before.

At Harry Styles was even born. The bright ruffles lent Harry could never facts.

Okay, so it's well established that he is a music and fashion icon, But how much do y'all truly know about Wangabia's journey to start them.

From a tough childhood to singing venues all over Why.

Is to a stint in jail and a friendship that helped ignite his career.

Today we're taking a look at Juengavirie's humble begin and.

How his powerhouse vocals and romantic lyrics launched him into music.

Starting let's get into it and all of it's glittery glory.

I'm your host, Lilianavosquez.

And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon.

A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how today's most famous LATINV stars have shaped pop culture.

And given the world some extra tuble.

Sit back and get comfortable.

Because we are going in the only way we know how, with whenas when, visas and a.

Lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to find out what makes them so iconic.

Okay, what is your first memory of Quankovidan.

It's watching him on TV. I don't remember what concert or performance it was, but I remember specifically being in Mauilita's house in Fort Worth, Texas, and I remember her like linoleum floor. It had different squares in all shades of like pink and brown and cream.

Thank you for taking you there.

And I remember her in her about that watching it and me being like wow, like I've never seen her so attentive to television, Like my grandmother wasn't that person. She didn't like watch TV like that, I mean, other than her novela, she never watched TV and I'd also never heard her play or listen to anything other than church music, like we you know, she's religious, always a very much a woman of faith, and so I'd never

On for me? Like Guanghi's was.

You know, my my parents actually were very Christian and they didn't listen to a lot of music, but when I would go to my family members' homes, Quanghia's was always on.

And also like when I would go to Wadis a lot.

There was a lot of like live bands at the bars, and so they would perform his music live, like some covers and stuff like that. But so I was always familiar with it, even like in high school.

Alberto Aguilera Valladez, better known as one Gabriel, was born on January seventh, nineteen fifty.

Wait wait wait wait wait, let me do my thing.

Okay okay, okay.

January seventh, nineteen fifteen.

So that means he's a Capricorn's son, a Leo Moon and an Aris Rising. So as a Capricorn he works hard for his money honey, and as a Leo Moon, well, no wonder he loves to be in the spotlight Aris Rising. They're known to be bold, confident, and radiate cu rithma.

Yep. The stars alliance make the perfect combo for someone.

Just like Wonky's as a fellow Ares, I fully agree now as I was saying. Alberto Aguilera Vaalares was born in Baraquaro, Michuacan, to Gabriel Aguilera Rodriguez and Victoria Vala Rojas. The youngest of ten siblings.

Little Alberto, the boy who would become Huangy's, experienced a tough childhood of his upbringing. He once said, as a child, I was.

Old, and I think what he meant to say by that was that he just had to grow up really fast. When Alberto was just a baby, tragedy struck his father. Gabriel, a farmer, was burning land in order to plant corn and accidentally ended up burning his neighbor's land.

The incident hit Gabriel hard. He had a nervous breakdown and was taken to a psychiatric hospital.

There's speculation that he escaped and tried finding his family. Some say he died in the hospital. Either way, Gabriel was never heard from again.

Soon after Alberto's mom, Victoria, took all ten children with her to the border town of Siodaswadis aka my old hood, where she worked as a housekeeper and later sold burritos with her children. By the way, selling burritos is legit a thing on the border.

Victoria worked long hours to provide for her family and couldn't take care of little Alberto, who was just four at the time, so she sent him away to an orphanage.

This was Huanghi's first memory of his mom, which had a devastating impact on him.

He told the Elie Times, you.

Don't know the word for abandon at that age, but you know what is happening.

You know you want to be with your mother and she's not there.

Victoria rarely visited Alberto growing up. He often ran away from the orphanage and made money of his own by washing cars or selling things on the street.

But it was at this orphanage that Alberto met an influential teacher that would change his life. His name was Juan Contreras. Juan Contredras was shy and almost completely deaf. The other kids at the orphanage laughed at him, but Alberto didn't, and so the teacher decided to give little Alberto music lessons because he wasn't like the others.

Juan Contreras introduced little Alberto to the piano and showed him how to play the guitar, sparking a lifelong passion for music.

By the age of thirteen, Alberto was fed up with the orphanage.

He craved freedom, so he ran away for good.

He ended up moving in with his mentor and teacher, Juan Gondredas. For a while. Together they made crafts out of wood, wicker, and tin and sold them on the streets.

This teacher made such an impact on Alberto that spoiler he would eventually honor him with his stage name, but mouill get to that.

After a year, Alberto returned to sue' what is to help his mom and sister sil burritos on the street.

It was during this time, as a teenager, that he wrote songs and sang while hustling on those mean streets.

He told the La Times. When I was fifteen, all I knew was that I had to be somebody, and that I could be somebody. So I exploited the only thing I knew, which was singing and songwriting. Even if my childhood had been different, I would have still sung. But the hardships gave me strength and made me realize that I must do something if I wanted to get out of that situation. I'm glad it off. Uh so are we one?

W Yeah?

So are we?

God bless.

Alberto kept hustling and doing odd jobs across what is. When he was sixteen, he often sang at el Noah Noah, a bar he immortalized years later in his hit song by the same name.

Oh my God, I'm remembering the guitar and the boot scutin sound and guess what I've been there.

No, you haven't. I'm gonna need a photo or video evidence that would actually be preferred done. And when you listen to this song, it's kind of like you walked into like a Texas honky talk biddle en Espanol. I mean it was based on a bar on the border.

I mean, mamosell no Noah.

No, Noah, no, noah, no, it's so gadgy, it is so good. I feel like old when I say this, but they don't make music like that anymore.

I mean, you're young when you say that.

Thank you, I love you. The year was nineteen sixty six and during the Vietnam War, thousands of American soldiers were stationed on the base across the border in El Paso and nine one five they would cross into watt Is looking to have fun at the bars and nightclubs, which Joseph is an expert on the fact.

I know all about that, but listen.

Kuan Gabriete, like me, was underage, so a friend basically smuggled him into a Noan noa so that he could make money singing.

He did so using his very first stage name, Adan Luna, and as he sang at other venues all over wat Is, he grew more and more confident as a performer.

He decided to try his hand singing in a bigger city. He traveled back and forth between Quadas and Mexico City trying to find opportunities to land a record deal, but he was rejected at every turn.

That did not stop Alberto aka Adan Luna aka one Geese. Are you following? He's following. There's a lot of names here, okay. He kept hustling and singing as a backup singer, all in the hopes that the right person would recognize his talent.

Then one day in nineteen seventy, his life would take a turn yet again. After performing at a private party in Mexico City, Alberto was accused of stealing a radio and jewelry.

Dude.

He was arrested and spent eighteen months in one of Mexico's most infamous prisons, Legumberti aka the Black Palace.

He told Lahnada when I went to prison, I didn't know how to defend myself.

They accused me of robbery without evidence.

They asked me for money to let me out, and when I didn't have it, they sent me to prison.

But spending time behind bars didn't snuff out his passion. He continued to write songs even from prison, and it was there at Lecumberi that he wrote nothinggoly Neto, his eventual debut single, Ah.

That's such a good one.

No thaneo nada qua lonico quetengos a more parama.

It's a bop. His talents caught the attention of the warden Andres Puentes Vargas and his wife, Opelia Urdusa Steggi. The warden ended up introducing him to actress and singer Enriquetta Jimenez aka La priet Linda.

The two struck a friendship and in the get that you eventually helped Fungabriel get out of prison by paying his fine.

Now that is a friend. You would never post my bail remember the time that I did? Oh wait, can you edit that out? She was also instrumental in connecting him to RCA, the record label that would launch his career.

It's all about who you know in this industry, baby, Thank.

God, I know you. Juan Gabriel was forever great to andri Getta. He even composed a song for her to sing called noch Noche. She would become one of the first artists to perform one of his compositions.

It was finally timed for Juan Gabriel's career to take off.

The year was nineteen seventy one and Alberto finally got his big break. He signed with record label RCA and made his first album in al Machoven, The Young Soul debuting the stage name we all now know him by, Juan Gabriel.

He named himself Quan in honor of Juan kun Preras, his mentor from the Orphanage.

The second part of his name, Gabriel, was a tribute to his late father, Gabriel Aguilera, and his first big hit.

No tengo dineo.

Okay, Well, I can't say it without singing, but written behind bars at Lacumbet.

The song is really so simple and dare I call it basic? But it just hits every time.

Every time.

It's literally about me. It's about a young man who doesn't have money but has lots of love to give instead, like that's me.

And it's also inspired many covers, including a Cumbia version by none other than the Cumbia Kings back in two thousand and four. It was also during this time that Jan Gabriel establishes himself as a powerhouse songwriter, not just the performer. He was also a hit maker for big names of the time like Roberto Jrzan and Esteita Nunez.

He gained success and toured through Venezuela.

While there, he worked in Karakas on a program called the Fiesta conven Vision, which was like a variety show with different musical acts.

And in the same year his first album was released. One Gabriel received a gold record for El Alma joven.

In nineteen seventy two, he participated in an international singing competition on tv A La American Idol. It was called the Oti Festival or simply La Oti.

The competition was held in Madrid, Spain. This show was a big deal for upcoming artists. He sang Serramayana and unodostresi medasum Bezo.

At just twenty two years old, Guangabrielle was not able to qualify to represent Mexico, but his songs were a hit with the audiences.

Those songs would later be recorded for his second album, El Almahoven too.

For the next two years, Guangabrielle quickly skyrocketed into popularity.

The people and us loved him.

But right when he was popping off, Juan Gabriel would suffer a terrible blow.

His mother, Victoria, died of a heart attack in nineteen seventy four.

And we know this. Juan Gabriel had always shared how complicated his relationship was with his mother. He felt abandoned by her, and in some ways he was always seeking her approval and her love m HM.

For example, he had just bought her the very house that she had worked in as a.

Mate, and her death greatly impacted him. Fans widely understand that this was the inspiration for amore Terno, a song he would release years later which goes.

Dues latrist mios c and Cileenzio.

You are the sorrow of my eyes which cry in silence for your love. Wait, hold on, I had to take a mole. I'm a mom. This is like not easy for me. Like can you imagine, like how sad little Wonky's must have been to not have her and know that she abandoned him. It's like heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking. And then he still loves her.

And also to support her.

And what's incredible about this is that all of that grief did not stop Wanghi's from chasing his dream straight to the top.

In nineteen seventy four, kuangab He had released his first Mariacci album with the group Vargas re the Kali Clan.

Proving that he could jump genre to genre with great success.

But that's not all. He expanded his career into acting.

He debuted on screen in nineteen seventy five in the film No Blesser Rancera or Rural Chivalry as a love interest.

It's very tele novela, muy dramatica and he sings a lot.

He would go on to appear in five feature films, and between nineteen seventy one and nineteen eighty four, Je Gabriel recorded Wait, okay, hold on, guess how many albums Joseph eight, double it and add one.

Ninety ninety Ah, wait, I can't do that.

He double it at three, y'all. This is why we do a podcast and not teach you mat skills.

Listen. He was a busy, busy man.

He reached new heights of success with his nineteenth album, Riguerdos Dos. It's the album that had one of his most well known songs, Geria guerira, ben Almi, Custos soufrillo.

Getting that is peak Juan Gabriel and heartbreak, yearning, thoring, balls.

Anguish, feeling so much emo there and it's everything that makes your abuela burst into song.

And for Juangy's the eighties and the nineties were a hit parade of ballads kicked off by the albums Recuerdos and Ricerdos.

Dos Ricuerdos Dos, by the way, remains Mexico's best selling album of all time. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Mexican American Performance.

By this point, he had also revived a fellow artist's career. Over the course of six albums with Rossio Durca, the.

Famed Spanish singer had recorded multiple albums singing tunes exclusively written by a Levo, including one that became one of the best selling records of all time in Mexico.

Imagine doing that twice in one year. Huang's was on fueg Go.

And in the nineties he kept it going with one of the most iconic performances ever.

In May nineteen ninety, he sang along with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Mexico at the Palacio de Bejas artist.

With a full mariachi band and everything.

El Mariachi ariba what is to be exact. At the time, his concert stirred controversy among the cultural elite in Mexico. They raised an eyebrow at Wanga because he was considered pop more of a commercial singer than the type of fore former who would typically take the stage at El Palacio, you know opera types. Wanghis walks out on that stage in a glittering golden jacket and sang his heart out and he played the big Ones Gerrida at the Guossi and of course Amore.

I'm crying right now thinking that whole concert. I'm an emotional wreck doing this research I have just been.

I can't. I gave up drinking for lent and find me at the bottom of a tequila bottle. I can't take it.

It is an epic, epic performance. And I think that performance of Amore, I mean it's a true fan favorite because I think it perfectly captures the dichotomy of Juan Gabriel right his humble, tragedy stricken beginnings and then his massive popularity. And just three years after pushing the envelope at El Palacio, he performed at the Rose Bowl here in la in nineteen ninety three with seventy five thousand people in attendance. Let me just bring that to current

Literally just goes to show the power of his music over Latinos in the United States too, not just in Mexico.

Huangi's had crossed a new threshold.

If you guys are Juan Gabriel fans, you've probably seen this performance at El Palacio. If you are new to Wanghi's or you want to really see the breadth of his work, this is the performance that you need.

To watch of a lifetime, of a life.

Thank you to thank you, thank you. You're right, You're right. I like I undersold it because I think, like you had said to me earlier, like he gives and gives and gives. Not only is an incredible singer and songwriter and out of fista, but like he is a cur and devo, he is a performer. And this performance for me, of all of the songs, but I think specifically as when the mariachi's just really like kick in and he

It is.

It's it's a next level performance for me and probably, like I said, one of my favorite live performances of all time.

You want to know what's so crazy? It's like it like took me back to Ricky Martin.

You no, like not like that, not like but just it took me back to Ricky Martin how he was, you know, performing and I would like at his very first performance and everyone was going like absolutely crazy. I was just kind of like wow, like one Gabriel did this first. I no, it wasn't an award show, but it was just kind of like the amount of people that were there and you can just feel like that he.

Was just I don't know, like he was so happy.

You know, it's a beautiful performance. It really is like one of my favorites. I'm just so happy that we have that and that we have video of it. Yeah, And that's what I love about this particular podcast is I remember watching that performance years ago. I also remember rewatching that performance when we were in season one and then coming back to it. I think we were talking about Ricky and we were doing research and I was like, God, there's so much of one Gabriel in Ricky, Like one

I don't hear it.

Facts, facts, But fuon Gavia's iconic performance at El Palacio was far from the last time he would push the envelope.

Join us next time for more of One Gabriel's continued success in the odds while we take a deep dive into his personal life. What was that phrase he so famously said, again, we're getting into it on the next Becoming an Icon. Becoming an Icon is presented by Sono and Iheart's Michael Guda podcast. Now listen to Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast