Juan Gabriel

Juan Gabriel (Playbackplayback.com)

Juan Gabriel, or Alberto Aguilera Valadez which is his real name, was one of the biggest stars in Mexico. He sadly passed away on August 28, 2016 in Santa Monica, CA. Juan Gabriel did not have an easy childhood. When he was small his mother sent him to a reformatory since she could not take care of him. His mom was a single mother since his father was sent to a mental institute. Juan Gabriel was the youngest of ten children. The reformatory was where he dicovered his talent for singing. In the reformatory there was a music teacher who encouraged him to sing and learn new instruments. After he got out of the reformatory is when the bumpy road to success began.

Many things influenced Juan Gabriel. One of them is to how he got to where he was. After the reformatory he went to Mexico City, where he had trouble with the people trying to help him or destroy him. Some stole from him, others genuinely wanted to help him. He was also influenced by his mother. He wrote many songs of abandonment and many people thought they were of a girlfriend, but they weren't. They were about his mother which he revealed in his show about how he grew up and came to be the person he was.

Juan Gabriel has accomplished many things. He has been nominated six times for a Grammy Award and been able to make it into the Billboard Hall of Fame. Though these are both great he has also opened up a home for boys whose parents could not take care of them or who have been living on the streets. Sadly this home has been closed but in the hopes of opening it again. The home had been open for 28 years.

Something that Juan Gabriel had to overcome was the fact that his mother and sister, who took care of him while his mother was at work, left him behind to begin their own lives without him in them. He also had to live with people making assumptions about his sexuality. Juan Gabriel never confirmed anything on his sexuality. When once asked by an interviewer if he was gay he responded with, "Lo que se ve, no se pregunta." or "Don't ask about what you see." By this he meant that you are making assumptions by what you see, which are your own opinions not facts. He also had overcame the fact that some people were in the business for the money, not for the music.

His reaction to being treated unfairly was calm and, little by little, he began to understand why that was. Once his label started stealing from him, he reacted in a calm way that normally musicians would not take. He did not produce any new music for eight years. This was his way of saying that he will not take any more stuff. That he will not stand for this anymore.