Speaker 1: Joseph, are you ready to say goodbye?
Speaker 2: Elana Barrak messes your right.
Speaker 1: You and me both, baby, I mean you and me both.
Speaker 3: We've seen one Gabriel through his highs and lows. Out
Speaker 3: of a childhood filled with abandonment and loss, Wanga emerged
Speaker 3: with a song in his heart.
Speaker 4: And our boy touched the hearts of everyone around him
Speaker 4: with his voice. Whether he was on the streets of
Speaker 4: juad Is, slinging borritos with his mother, or doing undeserved
Speaker 4: time inside a.
Speaker 3: Prison cellth Wanga was in the wrong place at the
Speaker 3: wrong time, but during his lowest low, the right person
Speaker 3: heard his voice and carried him to stardom.
Speaker 2: Hiki, that's the dream right, absolutely.
Speaker 1: One.
Speaker 3: Gabriel is the picture of rads to riches, perseverance. Anyone
Speaker 3: who's experienced hardship can find hope in his story. He's
Speaker 3: an ever man in glittering tassels.
Speaker 2: The most fabulous rising from the Ashley and.
Speaker 3: Rise he did decade after decade, selling millions of records
Speaker 3: worldwide to become Mexico's most successful musical artist.
Speaker 4: And at the height of Kwangat's fame, he let the
Speaker 4: world know who he was with a wink and a smile,
Speaker 4: and the fans stood by their man.
Speaker 3: In two thousand, Wanga set an attendance record with a
Speaker 3: string of shows at Mexico City's Zokalo Public Square, and
Speaker 3: in two thousand and two he set a record for
Speaker 3: the longest concert at seven hours.
Speaker 4: Oh my God, like literally my abs hurt just thinking
Speaker 4: of that.
Speaker 2: And finally, in two thousand and six, he received the
Speaker 2: Golden Garland and Universal Excellence Award from the King of Espana,
Speaker 2: commemorating his thirty five year career.
Speaker 3: But the most fitting tribute to Wanga might have come
Speaker 3: nine years later.
Speaker 1: That's when local Wattis.
Speaker 3: Artist Arturo Damasco painted a mural featuring a a young
Speaker 3: Wanga on a nine story building in the singer's hometown
Speaker 3: on the US Mexico border, the same city where he
Speaker 3: sang his songs and sold those famous burritos.
Speaker 4: Okay otravez Maas says your way, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
Speaker 4: but you know what, You're not alone.
Speaker 3: It was just a year later that the world would
Speaker 3: say goodbye to one Gabriel. In The New York Times,
Speaker 3: Kirk Semple and Elizabeth malkoln would write, it is difficult
Speaker 3: to overstate the popularity in Mexico of One Gabriel, whose
Speaker 3: music tapped a deeply sentimental lane in Mexican culture. His
Speaker 3: appeal transcended regional, racial and class boundaries in an otherwise
Speaker 3: stratified and fractured society.
Speaker 4: His music was played at children's birthday parties and the
Speaker 4: wedding anniversaries of retirees. It provided the soundtrack for joyous
Speaker 4: occasions and just as much for heartbreak.
Speaker 3: Today we're taking a closer look at the legac see
Speaker 3: of one Gavin.
Speaker 1: I'm your host Liliana Oscuez.
Speaker 2: And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon.
Speaker 3: A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on
Speaker 3: how today's most famous latinv stars have shaped pop culture
Speaker 3: and given the world some extra level.
Speaker 1: Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 4: Because we are going in the only way we know how,
Speaker 4: with whenas unassas.
Speaker 3: And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest
Speaker 3: achievements on our journey to find out what makes them
Speaker 3: so iconic. The first thing we think about when we
Speaker 3: think about legacy, especially as latinos, is family.
Speaker 2: Okay, but say it again, but it's time. Like Vin Diesel, family. Wait,
Speaker 2: I thought it.
Speaker 3: Familia anyway, moving right along, family loomed large for one
Speaker 3: go too.
Speaker 2: Which makes sense, right.
Speaker 4: He never knew his biological father and things were always
Speaker 4: complicated with his mom, and he.
Speaker 3: Lost his mother just when his career was really taking
Speaker 3: off in nineteen seventy four, which understandably had a major
Speaker 3: impact on him. According to hardcore one gu fans, one
Speaker 3: of his most beloved songs, Amoreno, was written in honor
Speaker 3: of his mom.
Speaker 4: Am damn, that's all I'm gonna sing, look at you?
Speaker 2: I try.
Speaker 3: And when he actually performs that song for his album
Speaker 3: at the Palacio de bees Atis in Mexico in nineteen ninety,
Speaker 3: he actually dedicates the song to all the mothers in
Speaker 3: the audience. I almost cried watching that performance on YouTube,
Speaker 3: Like as a mom, I was like, will Santi love.
Speaker 1: Me this much?
Speaker 2: Oh my god?
Speaker 3: All right, So we know that Guanga was never ashamed
Speaker 3: of his humble beginnings. Around the same time that his
Speaker 3: mother passed away, he started making monthly donations of twenty
Speaker 3: five thousand dollars to an orphanage.
Speaker 2: In seventies money honey, that is a lot of Netflix subscriptions.
Speaker 3: He also adopted a twelve year old boy from the
Speaker 3: same orphanage and gave him his own name, Alberto Aguilera Junior.
Speaker 2: What bury the lead much? Oh?
Speaker 1: That is just the beginning.
Speaker 3: Did you know that Juan Gabriel was an early pioneer
Speaker 3: in vitro fertilization or IVF something I know way too
Speaker 3: much about.
Speaker 4: We shut your butt, Okay, explain all right, Okay, So here's.
Speaker 2: How it goes.
Speaker 3: Sojan Gabriel didn't want to go on without ever knowing
Speaker 3: what it was like to father a child, so he
Speaker 3: approached his best friend's sister, Laua Salas about artificial insemination.
Speaker 3: So the two agreed to under go the procedure completely
Speaker 3: out of the public eye, and so in nineteen eighty eight,
Speaker 3: Ivan Gabriel was born.
Speaker 1: Huh, I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 3: Hold on, guys, we need to give Joseph a small
Speaker 3: break to process all of this new information.
Speaker 1: We will hold for you.
Speaker 4: Like somebody gave me some juice or something. Okay, wow, okay,
Speaker 4: So before Ricky Martin, before Sir Elton John, before Phoebe
Speaker 4: from Friends.
Speaker 2: Before Beyonce.
Speaker 4: Okay, just kidding, Juan Gabriel had a baby with a Syracuse.
Speaker 3: You're such a shady fucker, And the answer is yes.
Speaker 3: Our man was a pioneer in many ways, and once
Speaker 3: his dream of fatherhood came true, he decided to adopt
Speaker 3: three more children from the same orphanage he'd been supporting
Speaker 3: for years, Juan Gabriel, Joa n Hans Gabriel, and Jean
Speaker 3: Gabriel Aguilera Salles.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, all of these same names. They all
Speaker 4: sound like Juangabriel. But anyways, that sounds like one big,
Speaker 4: happy family, right.
Speaker 3: Well, that's the sad part. Tragedy touched his family in
Speaker 3: twenty twelve. His grandson died of a drug overdose. After
Speaker 3: that one, Gabriel and his eldest Alberto, grew distant, and
Speaker 3: that's without even getting into all the current legal drama
Speaker 3: between the kids. Bad hurts Wanga also went through so
Speaker 3: much pain early in his life, and that's probably what
Speaker 3: he saw in Alberto Junior at the orphanage.
Speaker 1: He gave him his own name after all, and listen,
Speaker 1: as high as.
Speaker 3: You can fly, no one leaves all of that behind
Speaker 3: without a scar or two. It's August twenty sixth, twenty sixteen.
Speaker 3: The Forum, which seats seventeen and a half thousand people
Speaker 3: is packed, and so was a three hundred and sixty
Speaker 3: degree stage in the middle of the crowd. An eighty
Speaker 3: piece ensemble including fifty Mariacci and orchestral musicians, ten singers,
Speaker 3: twenty dancers all wow the roaring crowd with just one
Speaker 3: man at the center of it.
Speaker 4: All one man in fabulous blue mariachi attire, sitting on
Speaker 4: a throne with lines on the armrest.
Speaker 3: This is the third stop on Juandabrie's Mexico Estol Gool Tour,
Speaker 3: a twenty two date sprint through the US with knights
Speaker 3: in Vegas, Miami, Dallas, and Brooklyn Barclays Center.
Speaker 2: Baby, you might.
Speaker 3: Call it a victory lap because earlier that year he
Speaker 3: had won Top Latin Album at the Billboard Music Awards.
Speaker 3: For Billboard, grise Leflores wrote he didn't waste any minute
Speaker 3: of the night and started off with some of his classics,
Speaker 3: including asifue Ino sent and Costumbres. The latter included a
Speaker 3: homage to the late Spanish singer Rossilla Lurgal, whose photo
Speaker 3: appeared on the screen while Gabriel sang his track made
Speaker 3: popular by Urgal. My Heart Wanga also kept up with
Speaker 3: the times inviting Colombian Reggaetndo Sona Prieta on stage for
Speaker 3: a modernized take on Noe Neto, and he even did
Speaker 3: a Credence Clearwater Revival cover.
Speaker 2: Wow, our boy is just always full of surprises.
Speaker 3: Well, when you're touring the US, you got to throw
Speaker 3: one out for the classic rock deals in the crowd.
Speaker 3: After an incredible setlist touring through past and present, Wangat
Speaker 3: closed with his earliest hit and Noa Noah.
Speaker 1: No no no so cud.
Speaker 2: I was going to do that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you can't not sing it, and as the
Speaker 3: music faded, the crowd was left with the message on
Speaker 3: towering screens saying congratulations to all the people that are
Speaker 3: proud to be who they are.
Speaker 4: Okay, seriously, how many times are you going to make
Speaker 4: me cry to day?
Speaker 2: You'd better stop.
Speaker 1: We're almost done, I promise.
Speaker 3: After his incredible show at the Forum One, Gabriel returned
Speaker 3: to a beachside apartment he owned in Santa Monica to
Speaker 3: rest up for his next show in your Hometown Joseph
Speaker 3: el Paso, Texas, a city that shares a border with
Speaker 3: his hometown of What Is. But tragically, Wanga would never
Speaker 3: make it to that show On Sunday, August twenty eighth,
Speaker 3: eleven seventeen Pacific time, one, Gabriel passed away due to
Speaker 3: acute myocardial failure, the very morning before he was set
Speaker 3: to take the stage for a hometown crowd.
Speaker 1: He was only sixty six years old. My godh too young,
Speaker 1: too soon.
Speaker 2: Do you remember where you were when you heard the news.
Speaker 3: I don't remember exactly where I was, But what really
Speaker 3: surprised me was kind of the title wave of post
Speaker 3: on social media about him, because let's just say, like,
Speaker 3: my audience is really varied, right, Like I have all
Speaker 3: kinds of people that I follow and that follow me,
Speaker 3: and Wan Gabriel isn't an artist or a conversation that
Speaker 3: I'm having a lot on social or that people are
Speaker 3: citing on.
Speaker 1: Social But what was crazy is all of.
Speaker 3: My feed was Wan Gabriel, And I was like, wait
Speaker 3: a second, I'm not the only one got fan.
Speaker 1: Like all of these people who I never.
Speaker 3: Suspected liked his music, grew up with his music, were
Speaker 3: then sharing it.
Speaker 1: And I thought that just goes to show you the
Speaker 1: power of.
Speaker 3: His impact and how wide his legacy reached to this day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, where were do you remember?
Speaker 2: You know? What I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't, but I just remember that the SECA is
Speaker 4: the DM day, like the Independence. I remember it being
Speaker 4: all like Huanghi's stuff. So it was just kind of
Speaker 4: like almost a month after he died and it was
Speaker 4: all flungy. So I just kind of remember there was
Speaker 4: a lot of tributes and all that stuff because I
Speaker 4: partied in Quatus and I remember that, but I didn't
Speaker 4: remember like he died in August, or I didn't have
Speaker 4: that type of recollection.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think for me, it was seeing so many social
Speaker 3: posts and the fact that it was trending on now
Speaker 3: Expec then Twitter just made me think, wow, like his
Speaker 3: impact is huge, like it's global and people are talking
Speaker 3: about it. And it made me so happy because it
Speaker 3: took me back to my grandma. His music always takes
Speaker 3: me back to my grandmother, and I had lost my
Speaker 3: grandmother the year before, and so I think for me,
Speaker 3: it was just like a really nice way to like
Speaker 3: relive that moment where I saw her really enjoying music
Speaker 3: as it was meant to be enjoyed, right, Like it
Speaker 3: wasn't about church, it wasn't about praise or faith or prayer.
Speaker 3: It was just music to have fun and dance and
Speaker 3: sing and feel for yourself. So it was that I
Speaker 3: think that really made me kind of like smile after
Speaker 3: I dealt with all of my sadness and the loss.
Speaker 4: Quemgabride's Mexi Costolo tour was tragically cut short, but his
Speaker 4: legacy would live on.
Speaker 3: The funeral for guan Gabriel was an event of public mourning. Impersonators,
Speaker 3: dancers and admirers gathered from the Palacio de Bellas Artis,
Speaker 3: where Wanga recorded his first live album, to the historic
Speaker 3: center of Mexico City to say goodbye.
Speaker 4: Wreaths of flowers adorned the steps of the palace, gifts
Speaker 4: from the President of Mexico and from close friends of
Speaker 4: Guanga such as singer Luis Migue. People lined up by
Speaker 4: the thousands to view the artist's ashes, which had arrived
Speaker 4: from sid al Fads.
Speaker 1: Around five in the afternoon.
Speaker 3: Ivan Gabriel Aguilera Salas placed his father's urn on a
Speaker 3: pedestal in the palace lobby, engraved with the image of
Speaker 3: the Virgen Reguadalupe.
Speaker 4: The initials AA V were engraved in curse of lettering.
Speaker 4: Quangabrie's birth name, Alberto Aguilera blades.
Speaker 3: In a tribute that was broadcast across the country, the
Speaker 3: Mexican tenor Fernando de la Mora, along with Wanga's backing
Speaker 3: band Madiacimitiere, performed Amore Terno, the song Juangabriel had dedicated
Speaker 3: to all the mothers in attendance at the very same
Speaker 3: by Lacio de Bellas Artes decades prior.
Speaker 4: The tributes continued with performances from Ida Cuevas, Lucia Mendez
Speaker 4: and Daniella Romo, who had all collaborated with pugabrid La
Speaker 4: Sonora Santana, a musica tropical orchestra had been a mainstay
Speaker 4: in Mexico since the nineteen sixties, also played for the
Speaker 4: Lake Gungas.
Speaker 3: One hundred and thirty thousand what Insists gathered around his
Speaker 3: house to mourn together, and years later they still celebrate
Speaker 3: him on the anniversary of his passing by gathering around
Speaker 3: his house, which is now cared for by a fan
Speaker 3: whom Wuanga had met at one of his concerts and
Speaker 3: whom he personally asked to take care of his house.
Speaker 2: As say it again, Haiqi, the dream also take a shot.
Speaker 3: I'm crying again, Okay, we are definitely listening to Wanga
Speaker 3: when We're done here.
Speaker 2: Followed by Huanga Karaoke Nothing Better.
Speaker 3: Five years after One Gabriel's death, Roberto Jose Andrade Franco
Speaker 3: would ride in Rolling Stone of the singer's relationship to
Speaker 3: his hometown.
Speaker 1: Even if this is a different what is than the
Speaker 1: one Wan Gabrielle grew up in.
Speaker 3: Even if he's not physically here, his presence remains.
Speaker 2: He's still the one who made it out and never
Speaker 2: forgot where he.
Speaker 3: Came from, The one who, in doing that, made the
Speaker 3: goals and dreams of everyone here that much more realistic.
Speaker 4: The one who told everyone who'd listened that even if
Speaker 4: pain and hurt were part of life, it was also
Speaker 4: full of beauty and wonder.
Speaker 3: The one whose songs on days like these mournful anniversaries
Speaker 3: come from what sounds like every part of the city,
Speaker 3: even without the accolades, which, just.
Speaker 4: For the record seeks Grammy Noma Nations, three posthumous wins,
Speaker 4: an induction into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame,
Speaker 4: four number one albums on the Billboard Latin Chart, over
Speaker 4: a hundred million album sold.
Speaker 3: It would be a massive understatement to call One Gabriel
Speaker 3: one of the Latin world's biggest icons.
Speaker 2: He's once in a generation icon.
Speaker 3: Stats, but like the kind of icon that every generation needs.
Speaker 3: I think one of my favorite quotes on Wangabriel's legacy
Speaker 3: is from Gustavo Ariano. He's the author of the syndicated
Speaker 3: column Asca Mexican in the La Times. He wrote, Mexican
Speaker 3: boys are taught to ridicule Wangabriel, Mexican men learn to
Speaker 3: respect the legend. He redefined masculinity as only a sequence
Speaker 3: and silk loving man could. But Wanga's truest legacy is
Speaker 3: not his music. It's what he represented personal freedom.
Speaker 4: Like living authentically your health is so so so hard,
Speaker 4: and we got to see him do it.
Speaker 1: He did the thing, he.
Speaker 2: Did the thing he came to live his life.
Speaker 3: And I think what's amazing is that when you look
Speaker 3: back at the time when these songs came out, like
Speaker 3: we are the children of the people that Wangabrielle was
Speaker 3: writing for performing for. You know, that was his generation
Speaker 3: and it's our generation that has really taken advantage and
Speaker 3: been able to use his declaration of freedom and independence
Speaker 3: of living authentically to our best interests, right like we
Speaker 3: are that generation. It wasn't our parents. Our parents couldn't
Speaker 3: do this shit. We barely did it. And then our
Speaker 3: kids are gonna like live, you know, especially as Latinos.
Speaker 4: Well, my kid isn't going to live. My plans aren't
Speaker 4: going to live. They're going to live authentically. Okay, don't
Speaker 4: judge me.
Speaker 3: An icon like Wanga lives on in his music just
Speaker 3: a few blocks from his nine story mural, and what
Speaker 3: is a statue of him bears an inscription that reads
Speaker 3: miandras a Juan Gabriel vividra.
Speaker 4: As long as someone keeps singing my songs, Juan Gabriel
Speaker 4: will live forever.
Speaker 3: Join us right here next week as we dive into
Speaker 3: the story of another icon.
Speaker 2: The Queen of Salsa curself seen Groups.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you here next week
Speaker 3: on becoming an Icon. Becoming an Icon is presented by
Speaker 3: Sonoo and Iheart's Michael Guda podcast Network. Listen to Becoming
Speaker 3: an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Speaker 1: Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast