Dressed in flamboyant attire and radiating an essence that longed to love and be loved, he filled stadiums with smiles and passion that would often be dissolved into tears of recognition, as audiences relieved their own heartaches through his music.
Mexican singer–songwriter, Alberto Aguilera Valadez, most famously known as Juan Gabriel makes a moving and powerful return – not in song, but in story.
Netflix’s new docuseries, “Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” offers an intimate scope into the portrayal of the beloved singer through archived media, personal reflections and rare recordings into a four-part tribute to a life lived in defiance of silence.
Premiered on Oct. 30, the series is directed by Maria Jose Cuevas and narrated by Gabriel himself, using audio he recorded before his death in 2016 at 66. The result is a poetic and unfiltered posthumous autobiography. Gabriel begins telling his journey to stardom by talking about his experience in an orphanage in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
His early years were marked by poverty, mid-1960s cabaret singing gigs, incarceration and abuse. Through the pain of many hardships, he managed to persevere by writing, singing and seizing any opportunity to demonstrate his talent.
“I must, I can, I will,” he declares – not just a mantra, but a map of survival.
The series draws from more than 2,000 hours of footage. Much of it was filmed by Gabriel with a camera he purchased with his first paycheck as a singer. Home videos, studio sessions and handwritten notes reveal a man who cherished many things in life in a philosophical yet playful way. In one scene, he dances alone in a hotel room while in another he’s poised and confident.
Cuevas, known for her work on “Beauties of the Night,” brings cinematic elegance to the series balancing Gabriel’s lively stage persona with the quiet ache of his private life. The series revisits his greatest hits from, “Querida” to “Hasta Que Te Conoci,” and his impact on Mexican culture, queer identity and musical innovation. Gabriel blurred genres and tore down taboos. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and wrote over 1,500 songs.
“Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” is more than a docuseries. It is a celebration and a love letter to resilience. It reminds viewers that behind every glamorous and sequin detailed costume was a man who believed in the power of art to heal.
The docuseries is now streaming in more than 190 countries and has reached Netflix’s top 10 most watched shows. The series urges for the public to get a glimpse of the life he lived and the influence he continues to have on current generations.
