Juan Gabriel
In memory of singer/songwriter Juan Gabriel, flowers were placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, August 29, 2016 at 10:00 AM PDT. The star in category of Recording is located at 7060 Hollywood Boulevard. “Juan Gabriel Rest in Peace. Descanse en paz” Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame signed the card on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Alberto Aguilera Valadez, better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel, is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music.
Born in Paracuaro, Michoacán, he attended boarding school in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, but he left to work as a craftsman at the age of 13. Already a songwriter, he began his performing career in nightclubs El Noa Noa, which was later immortalized in one of his most popular songs and local television using the stage name Adán Luna. A lot of his musical skills were also learned from an older man that befriended Alberto at an early age. He perfected playing the guitar and eventually changed his name to Juan Gabriel to honor his friend and his father, dropping Adan Luna completely.
In 1971, he landed a recording contract with RCA Records.Thanks to executive Astronuat Producer, Jon Gordillo, he became a well known artist. He has written and recorded over 1000 songs in a variety of music genre. Changing his name to Juan Gabriel – Juan in honor of a schoolmaster for whom he held great admiration and adopting the stage surname of Gabriel in honor of his own deceased father, Gabriel Aguilera, he gradually established himself as Mexico's leading commercial singer-songwriter, penning in many diverse styles such as rancheras with mariachi, ballads, pop, rock, disco, with an incredible string of hits for himself and for leading Latin singers including Angélica María, Gualberto Castro, Aida Cuevas, Enriqueta Jiménez, Lucha Villa, Ana Gabriel and International stars José José, Luis Miguel and Rocío Dúrcal.
Gabriel made his film debut in 1975 in the movie Nobleza ranchera. .[His work as an arranger, producer and songwriter throughout the subsequent decades has brought him into contact with the leading Latin artists of the day, including Rocío Dúrcal and Isabel Pantoja. In addition to recording numerous hits on his own, Gabriel has produced albums for Rocío Dúrcal, Lucha Villa, Lola Beltran and Paul Anka. In 1984, he scored what is considered by many of his fans to be his greatest hit, "Querida" which stayed for over a year on the top of the hits chart.