A heartbreaking voice, hoarse, melodies with tears, letters full of love and lovelessness: a face with arched eyebrows, with closed eyes, gestures that point. It is Ana Gabriel , the Diva of America , according to the Mexican custom that prefers to label, as if the artistic name was not enough.
" If I had not enjoyed and cried for love, I could not sing these songs, " he once said.
Maria Guadalupe Araujo Yong , Chinese maternal grandfather but a pure feeling in singing, the same one that she defended since the middle of the eighties, she chose the song.
He was born in Guamúchil (Mexican state of Sinaloa) on December 10, 1955, and from his childhood began to sing, nourished by those songs that so much fell in love with Latin Americans during those times, especially the lyrics of the immortal Agustín Lara and the no less Recognized Maria Grever , two essential referents in the tradition of Mexican popular music.
Maria Guadalupe became Ana Gabriel at the end of the 70's, when its manager José Barrientos , suggested the name with which he is known in the artistic world. There he began his firm career, singing in bars, some events, until in 1985 he recorded his first album LP Un estilo.
Although that plate was not very convincing, especially for the way the tastes of the time were handled, Ana Gabriel managed to participate in the OTI Festival of the Ibero-American Song , in 1986: it obtained the fifth place with its song " At your side ", a success that undoubtedly put it on the map of the vocalists of the moment. We must not forget that the eighties was the decade of the great vocalists, the era of great songs and unforgettable songs. In fact, much of the current " talent " is nourished by that watering hole.
So Ana Gabriel was already a trademark but surely the ultimate catapult was the duo with Vikki Carr , " Cosas del amor " of 1991: the hymn of despair became the pass of Ana Gabriel to the world of divas, And the numbers prove it, since only in 1992 recorded three albums: Amores , Personalidad y Silueta .
" I never say ' I love you' if I do not feel it, " he warned on one occasion, stressing that he says so in his life as well as in his songs.
The rest is well-known history: tours, concerts, fabulous duos with real stars, like Armando Manzanero , Pedro Fernandez , Plácido Domingo , Jon Secada , José Feliciano , Rocío Jurado , Yuri , among others.
Among the awards that the Diva of America has received are Grammy Latinos , Billboard , Nuestro Nuestro , not counting the honorable Seagulls (of gold and silver) and Torches of Viña del Mar, in addition to the no less famous sales awards like Diamond Discs , Gold, Platinum and repeatedly.
All of this gives Ana Gabriel a huge backing, who has already announced her upcoming concerts: September 21 in Panama, October 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and November 25 in Las Vegas, and counting , Because this Diva is not for anyone.
In numbers, Ana Gabriel has recorded 35 albums. The first six are from the 1980s, twelve in the 1990s, fourteen in the 2000s, and in the last few years have been four albums. The last one released in 2013, Altos de Chavón . Now the musical life is in the concerts, and with them Ana Gabriel has been more than active.
