Professor of Spanish Gustavo Geirola studied Mexican culture in his years as a doctorate student and remembers musical and cultural icon Juan Gabriel. Geirola's academic interests include Spanish and Latin American Literature, Theatre, Cinema, Television, Popular Culture; Gay and Lesbian Studies, Semiotics, and Psychoanalysis.
As a young Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State, one of my research interests was Mexican culture and I studied extensively important characters such as music legend Juan Gabriel. One of the most prominent composers and singers in Mexico and Latin America, Juan Gabriel passed away on August 28, 2016. Born Alberto Aguilera Veladez in Michoacán, Mexico in 1950 and known as “Juanga” by his legions of fans, he was an icon in Latin American music and his songs have been translated to many languages and sung by many singers, particularly mariachi groups.
Although he was born in Michoacán, he lived most of his childhood in Juarez, and because of that he was known as the Divo de Juarez. The youngest of ten siblings, Juan Gabriel came from very humble beginnings, and life was not very easy during his childhood, but he still managed to compose his first song at age 13.
Along with legends such as José Alfredo Jiménez and Armando Manzanero, Juan Gabriel is considered as one of the composers who renewed the Mexican song in all its forms and styles (ranchera, corridos, bolero, balada, etc.). He offered hundreds of concerts, recorded many albums with many other famous singers, and received numerous awards.
Juan Gabriel’s songbook is inserted into a long tradition dating back to medieval and Renaissance troubadours. His songs have texts relating to love – divine and human – and his lyrics in its apparent simplicity are quite controversial, particularly related to gender issues, as his own figure undoubtedly challenged Mexican machismo. He is the only singer to come from a very marginal class who reached the pinnacle of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, a playhouse usually dedicated to classic music and high bourgeois culture. His compositions, however, were able to cross all boundaries of class, gender, age, and – no doubt – linguistic, cultural and geo-political.
In one of his famous songs titled “La Frontera,” he starts every stanza with “A mí me gusta más estar en la frontera” (I prefer being on the border), a lyric that can be read in many ways. Other famous songs are “Querida”, “Yo no nací para amar”, “El Noa Noa”, and thousands of people know them by heart and can sing them anytime because his repertoire refers to many circumstances of one’s life. As time passed, Juan Gabriel became not only a popular figure but also a media phenomenon: t-shirts, hats, key chains, and many other artifacts were sold at concerts, which usually allowed many people to make some money around it.
Even though Juanga was very well paid for his concerts and albums, he was also incredibly charitable. He was generous with charities especially ones aimed at helping young orphans. To recognize his successful musical career, he received a star at the Walk of Fame in Hollywood and other U.S. and Mexican cities.
You can read more about Juan Gabriel and his legacy to pop culture and music in an extensive academic essay published in Latin American Music Review when I was a studying for my doctorate. (Article in Spanish)
Photo courtesy: Fusion.net
