Juan Gabriel

Lore & Background

Alberto Aguilera Valadez was the youngest of ten children. His father was interned in a psychiatric hospital during his childhood, and his mother moved the family to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. He spent eight years at the El Tribunal boarding school, where he met teacher Juan Contreras and ran away to live with him for a year at age 13, composing his first song that same year.

After returning to his mother, he became involved with a local Methodist Church but identified as Roman Catholic. At age 15, he debuted on the television show Noches Rancheras under the pseudonym Adán Luna. From 1966 to 1968 he worked as a singer at the Noa-Noa bar, where he wrote 'El Noa Noa'.

After unsuccessful attempts to find a recording contract in Mexico City, he worked as a backing vocalist at RCA Víctor before returning to Juárez bars. In 1971, after a third attempt in Mexico City, he was incorrectly accused of robbery and incarcerated for about 18 months in Palacio de Lecumberri Prison, where he wrote songs that attracted the warden's attention. With help from the warden and his wife, he was released and lived with them for two years, launching his professional career as Juan Gabriel.