MEXICO:...New Album From Juan Gabriel...Died in 2016...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | He remains one of a handful of Mexico's most celebrated singers, there along with Vicente Fernandez, Marco Antonio Solis and Jose Jose. We speak of Juan Gabriel, the most prolific Mexican songwriter of his time.

Who can hang with a new girlfriend and not get wobbly at hearing Querida? Been to a funeral and not heard his Amor Eterno, or to Ciudad Juarez and not sat down for a beer with El Noa Noa storming out of the dusty, corner jukebox?

Gabriel died a few years back, but his music is still around.

Well, now comes a new album of his songs, said to have been released by his estate.

This from latimes.com: [ Thursday night saw the streaming release of "Méxxico es Todo," a love song to Gabriel’s native country released a week before its Independence Day (Sept. 16th). The track is the first single from Gabriel’s upcoming posthumously released album, his second following 2022’s "Los Dúo, Vol. 3." As Billboard reports, the new record will feature original unpublished songs.

The accompanying music video is heavy with red, white and green pride - Gabriel’s vocals play over a montage heavy on Mexican landmarks and imagery like Basilica of Guadalupe, the Aztec sun stone, mariachis and folkloric dancers.

Gabriel captivated generations of Latinos over his four-decade career thanks to his larger-than-life personality. Over time, "Amor Eterno," a song about love and loss written by Gabriel in 1984 and popularized by singer Rocío Dúrcal, has become a staple at funerals and memorials in Mexico and the United States.

The artist died of natural causes in 2016 at his home in Santa Monica. Gabriel, who was 66, had been battling health problems. ] 

Mexican music like that offered by Gabriel and others such as Ana Gabriel (no relation), Jose Luis Peralez and Manuel Mijares was new to me when I began writing about Mexico in the mid-1980s for The Houston Post. Julio Iglesias was also in there, although he is a Spaniard.

Juan Gabriel, whose real name was Alberto Aguilera Valadez, spread his singing talent to pretty much all genres, from rancheras, to ballads, to mariachi, to pop music. He was born January 7, 1950, in the state of Michoacan.

He died August, 28, 2016, at his home in Santa Monica, California.

The cause of death was a heart attack...

-30-