Who was Juan Gabriel? I was born and raised in Maine, the land of oldies stations and country music, and was never introduced to varying music. Maybe that's why I played cello for 7 years, to experience something else than the two options we had on the radio.
On Sunday Night, NBC News did a quick little blurb stating that Juan Gabriel died of a heart attack at his Santa Monica, California at the age of 66. He was called the king of Spanish-language radio and an icon in his native Mexico. He was likened to Elton John, but unlike Elton, he was never bluntly honest with his sexuality. Other sites reporting on his death used "flamboyant" and "overly flamboyant" to describe the deceased performer. The rumors that he was gay were there and mainly believed. In 2002, he did tell a Univision reporter, “Don’t ask what you already know.”
Me being a white French-Canadian guy from Maine didn't know how popular he is/was so I did a little reading. Shared on – LATimes.com was a profile of Juan Gabriel from 1999
First, who he is: the highest-paid Spanish-language singer on Earth. Where he lives: among a dozen mansions and ranches across the Americas–but mostly on a rose-filled estate in Malibu. Age: middle. Style of music: gigantic ballads. Years performing: 28. Number of records sold: 35 million.
Now, who he is not: Julio Iglesias, the Latin pop singer best known to English-language fans.
Yes, the actual king of Latin pop is Juan Gabriel–a debonair multimillionaire who is the ultimate superstar to the half of this city that listens to Spanish radio, and a man occasionally mistreated by the half that does not. – latimes.com
Many of us mainstream music lovers may not know about him here in the United States since we often just pay attention to and listen to the "cross over" artists. Gabriel was not one of those.
Gabriel remains a fiercely patriotic Mexican, even if he does pay a lot of taxes in the United States. And in spite of persistent pleading by his record company, he remains utterly uninterested in "going gringo" despite the added millions that a crossover smash would mean.
"American music has infiltrated the entire world enough as it is," he says. "Mexican music must be defended, with vigilance. . . . My thoughts, my feelings, my spirit, they are all in Spanish. [My] record company has done nothing for me. They haven't hurt me, but they haven't helped me, either. They benefit from my talent and hard work. I don't need them. It's the other way around. And my contract with them is in Spanish. … They say fame is important, and that maintaining your fame is even more important. But to me the most important thing is to deserve the respect of your fans." – latimes.com
And then there is his sexuality. To keep his sexuality a moot point, he didn't really talk about it, although there were some hints once in a while.
Seemingly comfortable, he even compliments his interviewer, and jokes, "Mija, hablemos de novios." (Honey, let's talk boyfriends.)
It's a gutsy tease. Gabriel probably knows that the question of his sexual identity is on his interviewer's mind. According to his manager, Gabriel's sexual preference is always of interest to prying American reporters.
An unabashedly effeminate man who has never been married, Gabriel is rumored among his fans to be gay. He has hinted over the years that they could be right, and his flowing capes, scarves and makeup do nothing to silence the talk. His publicist says his children, while biologically his, were conceived through artificial insemination. (Gabriel gave their mother's name only as "Laura" and described her as his best friend.)
In this regard, Gabriel has done what might seem like the impossible: He has been accepted and adored by an often violently homophobic culture, in spite of what one fan called "the obvious."
Several other stars have been accepted in Latino circles despite ambiguous sexuality, including television astrologer Walter Mercado and Cuban singer Albita. Scholars specializing in Latino culture and sexual norms attribute this acceptance to a Latino tradition of "don't ask, don't tell," whereby a beloved family member–or celebrity–is "allowed" to be homosexual, as long as they don't say so.
There is some evidence that this is happening with Gabriel. At a recent concert in Pico Rivera, where he gave his first all-banda performance, a grizzled older gentleman who described himself as a huge Gabriel fan spoke loudly about Gabriel's music and talent, and then whispered, "We know what he is. You know what I'm talking about? He doesn't have to say it. We don't care. But we would never want him to talk about it. We respect him because he doesn't." – latimes.com
To read more about Juan Gabriel, head over to latimes.com.
Have you listened to Juan Gabriel? Was he a role model for you?
What did you think of how he lead his life?
Are there others in the Latin music community that are similar to him?
H/T: – latimes.com