Next October 30, Netflix will premiere the documentary series Juan Gabriel: I Debo, Podemos y Quiero, a four-episode production that invites you to look beyond the stage and discover the man behind the myth. Directed by María José Cuevas and produced by Laura Woldenberg and Ivonne Gutiérrez, the work is presented as a sensitive and honest portrait of Alberto Aguilera Valadez, better known as Juan Gabriel.
Unprecedented access to your life
The production brings together unpublished images, archival material and testimonies that seek to show an intimate facet of the artist. The platform describes the series as a “tribute that hurts beautifully”, a way of approaching the complexity of a creator who knew how to transform his wounds into music.
Through its four chapters, the viewer will be able to travel from the humble beginnings of Juan Gabriel, through the moments of consecration in Mexican popular music, until reaching his death in 2016. All of this with a look that seeks to humanize the idol, without hiding his personal struggles or his extraordinary passion for living to create.
The legacy of an unrepeatable artist
Juan Gabriel, known as El Divo de Juárez, died in August 2016 at the age of 66, victim of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California. However, his voice and his compositions remain alive. Author of more than a thousand songs and with more than 30 million records sold, he composed for more than 200 performers and left a mark that cannot be erased on music in Spanish.
Topics like I don’t have money, Always on my mind or What divine love marked generations, becoming anthems that crossed borders and challenged labels. His unique style, full of theatricality and emotion, broke prejudices and paved the way for new ways of understanding music and identity.
Recognitions and cultural footprint
During his career, he accumulated more than a thousand gold, platinum and multi-platinum records. In 2009, the Latin Recording Academy named him Personality of the Year, and throughout his career he won a dozen Billboard Awards, establishing himself as one of the most influential voices in Latin music.
But beyond the awards, Juan Gabriel remains alive in the collective memory. His work is part of Mexico’s cultural DNA and continues to excite millions of people around the world.
An invitation to reflection
What does it mean for a society to remember its great artists from an intimate perspective and not just from myth? In what way does Juan Gabriel’s work continue to dialogue with new generations, including those within the LGTBIQ+ community who find in him a reference of freedom and authenticity?
The documentary is presented as an opportunity not only to remember an immense artist, but also to reflect on the power of art as a tool of resistance, expression and love.
