Song:El Destino
Album:El Divo Canta a Mexico
For over 30 years, Juan Gabriel was one of Latin America's most popular singers. He wrote and produced much of his own music. El Destino topped the Latin American charts in 1997. It is from a duet album he recorded with the popular Spanish star Rocio Durcal. He was born Alberto Aguilera Valadez Jan. 7, 1950 in Paracuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. His parents were farmers and Gabriel was the youngest of ten siblings. When his father was put in a psychiatric hospital, his mother moved the family to Chihuahua and Gabriel was placed in a boarding school. He escaped and moved in with his teacher at age 13. That's when he started writing songs and Gabriel learned to sing in church. After appearing on the 1965 TV show Noches Rancheras, Gabriel was given the name Adan Luna. He worked in clubs for the next few years. He was hired by RCA as a backup singer. When that didn't work out, Gabriel was homeless and then falsely accused of robbery and thrown in jail. When he showed his songs to the warden, singer La Prieta Linda was brought in. She got him out of jail and she got him a record deal with RCA. That's when he became Juan Gabriel. In the 70s, Gabriel became one of Mexico's most popular singers. And he also started writing and producing for other artists including Rocio Durcal, Lola Beltran and Paul Anka. Gabriel's popularity continued through a copyright dispute with BMG. He refused to record from 1986-94 though he continued to perform live. After the dispute was resolved, Gabriel picked up where he left off. El Destino is from the 1997 album Juntro Otra Vez. It's a duet with Rocio Durcal and it topped the Latin American singles chart. The album has 2CDs. There are eight duets on the album. It was certified 2XPlatinum. It was also turned into a live DVD. Both are available but I recommend this budget CD as a good intro to Gabriel's music. Gabriel's success continued until his death from a heart attack on Aug. 28, 2016 at age 66. Here's the video for El Destino by Juan Gabriel featuring Rocio Durcal.
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