 Billboard Latin Hall of Fame
-- inducted 1996
Juan Gabriel is one of Mexico's most successful vocalists. A six time Grammy
nominee, Gabriel has sold more than thirty million copies of his albums and has
performed sold out concerts throughout the world. In addition to recording
numerous hits on his own, Gabriel has produced albums for Rocio Durcal, Lucha
Villa, Lola Beltran and Paul Anka.
His songs have been covered by a lengthy list of Latin artists including Ana
Gabriel (no relation), Rocio Durcal, Isabel Pantoja, Raul di Blasio and Marc
Anthony. The recipient of the "ASCAP Songwriter Of The Year" award in 1995, Juan
Gabriel was inducted into the "Billboard Latin Music Hall Of Fame" the following
year. During an interview shortly after his induction, Gabriel said, "I compose
songs with a lot of simplicity because my school has been the streets and people
have been my books."
The youngest of ten children, Gabriel (born: Alberto Aguilera Valadez) was
raised in the border town of Juarez by his mother, who worked as a housekeeper.
He now owns the mansion in which she worked.
Singing from earliest memory, Juan Gabriel was already writing his own songs by
the age of thirteen. Changing his name to "Adam Luna," Gabriel began singing in
the nightclubs of Juarez's downtown strip in his teens. One night spot, El Noa
Noa, was later immortalized in one of his most popular tunes.
Moving to Mexico City, and changing his name to "Juan Gabriel," he recorded his
first hit, "No Tengo Dinero (I Have No Money)" in 1971. Book Juan Gabriel
www.grabow.biz. Over the next fourteen
years, he rose to international recognition, appearing in such films as "Nobleza
Ranchera," "Del Otro Lado Del Puerte" and "Es Mi Vida" and selling an estimated
twenty million records by 1985.
Just as his career reached its peak, Juan Gabriel had a major conflict with BMG
over control of his copyrights. Over the next eight years, he refused to record
any new material. Reaching a compromise with BMG in 1994, he quickly made up for
lost time.
In 1995, three of his songs reached the top forty of Billboard magazine's "Hot
Latin Tracks" radio charts – his own recording of "El Palo (The Stick)," which
reached number one, and cover versions of his songs, "Como La Luna (Like The
Moon)," by Banda Maguey, and "No Tengo Dinero" by Ana Gabriel.
Notable songs include --
Se Me Olvidó Otra Vez
Querida
No Tengo Dinero
No Me Vuelvo a Enamorar
Hasta Que Te Conoci
Te Sigo Amando
Siempre en Mi Mente
Noa Noa
Me He Quedado Solo
Me Gusta Estar Contigo
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