As a queer woman born in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, journalist María García was always drawn to Juan Gabriel.
“I feel like his legacy gives me the clues to decipher this tension within me between these two identities,” Garcia said of the legendary Mexican singer-songwriter. That tension is explored in “Mi Divo,” a new Apple TV+ podcast hosted and executive produced by Garcia, in which she uses Gabriel’s story as a guiding light for her own personal reconciliation with generational family trauma and her identity.
The eight-part series — Apple TV+’s first bilingual podcast — premiered Monday, with the first two episodes available for non-subscribers. New episodes of “Mi Divo” are released weekly.
The podcast delves into Gabriel's flamboyant personality, which rankled the Mexican patriarchy and often sparked media speculation about his sexuality. One example included in “Mi Divo” is Gabriel's now infamous 2002 interview with “First impactreporter Fernando del Rincón, who asks if the singer is gay.
“They say that what you see is not necessary to ask,” Gabriel replied tersely. Despite constant questions, he never said it publicly. Garcia notes that he also never flatly denied his homosexuality and often completely questioned the questions he was asked.
“But Juan Gabriel on stage? Honey, that was queer exuberance,” Garcia said.
At the height of his career, The Divo of Juarez They would wear purple fringed suits, bright pink vests, and silk suits.
“At his most powerful, authentic and liberated, Juan Gabriel on stage was truly free,” he added.
Gabriel, the youngest of ten children, was born in Parácuaro, Michoacán. When he was young, his mother moved the family to Ciudad Juárez after her husband was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She eventually gave Gabriel to a local orphanage.
in a Profile of 1999 with ITimeGabriel said his first memory was of being abandoned by his mother.
“At that age, you don’t know what ‘abandonment’ means,” Gabriel told former Times reporter Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. “But you know what’s going on. You know you want to be with your mother, but she’s not there.”
Gabriel would take advantage of his vocal talent and his ability to distill emotions inherent to the human condition in songs that have stood the test of time. Gabriel sold more than 100 million albums throughout his decades-long career, conquering the hearts of audiences on both sides of the border and of all sexual orientations with songs like “Así Fue,” “No Tengo Dinero” and “La Farsante.”
Despite his personal heartbreak, Gabriel's capacity for love shone through in his music. Valdes-Rodriguez says it was his “emotion at the intersection of love and pain” that set “JuanGa” apart from the rest.
“When you think of someone raised in an orphanage, abandoned, who comes to that level, that’s an exceptional soul, right? He extended that strength to everyone and everything around him,” Valdes-Rodriguez said. “He saw beauty in forgotten places and forgotten people.”
Gabriel eventually reunited with his mother and bought her a house shortly after rising to fame. She served as the inspiration for “Amor Eterno,” the sad ballad that has since become a staple at funerals.
Singer Juan Gabriel performs during the Latin Grammy Awards in 2009.
(Fake Images)
“I don’t think he was in denial or unaware of what had happened to him,” Valdes-Rodriguez said. “He was just able to forgive and love at a level that most of us can only aspire to.”
Garcia says Gabriel’s ability to forgive his mother despite her abandonment helped her cope with her own family trauma. Like Gabriel, Garcia’s own mother was abandoned: she was forced to marry someone she didn’t know and was subjected to sexual abuse. As the podcast reveals, Gabriel was also a victim of such abuse.
“I saw both the pain and the resilience and the beauty of her healing, and I saw that in my mother. It was a really cathartic moment,” Garcia said.
“Mi Divo” is meant to be a space for healing, Garcia says. By exploring the tragedies and triumphs that surrounded the singer’s life, she’s been able to find solace, peace and a sense of belonging. Her own narrative is as central to the story as Gabriel’s. It’s a creative decision that was also made in “Anything for Selena,” a podcast series that examines the cultural significance of slain Tejano legend Selena Quintanilla. “Anything for Selena,” produced through Futuro Media and Boston’s National Public Radio affiliate WBUR, was named Apple Podcasts’ 2021 show of the year.
Garcia says he decided to “show his cards” to the listener by becoming part of the story in both series.
“Do not include [my own narrative] “It is a lack of honesty on my part as a journalist towards the audience,” Garcia said. “I value radical transparency more than objectivity because objectivity does not exist.”
And why focus on? myThe Divo of Juarez “This time?” Because the listeners began to clamor for it.
“After finishing [‘Anything for Selena’]It felt like providence, it felt like the universe [was manifesting it]Because there were a lot of people on social media who started sending me messages: 'So, is Juan Gabriel next?'”
