Juan Gabriel - The Best (2002) (320kbps) by isachido

Born on January 7, 1950, on Cinco de Mayo street (now known as Juan Gabriel Street) in the small town of Parácuaro, Michoacán, to father Gabriel Aguilera Rodríguez and mother Victoria Valadez Rojas, he is the youngest of 10 siblings: Rosa who died shortly after birth, Virginia, José Guadalupe, Gabriel, Pablo, Miguel (died) and three brothers named Rafael who all three have also died.

Around the age of three months, Alberto's father, Gabriel, being an agricultural field worker, intended to clear a piece of land by setting fire to the field. Due to windy conditions, he lost control of the fire which began to spread to neighboring properties and homes. Deeply disturbed and worried over the consequences he brought onto his family, Gabriel knew not what to do and threw himself into a river. Badly injured from the fall, Gabriel was hospitalized and committed to La Castañeda psychiatric ward in México City. What happened to Gabriel after the psychiatric ward is unknown. One tale is that he died while in La Castañeda for their alleged patient mistreatment, while others say that Gabriel escaped from the mental ward to unknown whereabouts. Either way, Alberto and his family never heard from their father again. These accounts would later be Alberto's inspiration for the song titled "De Sol a Sol (A Mis Padres)" - English translation, "From Sun Up to Sun Down (To My Parents)".

After some time, Alberto's mother, Victoria, felt obligated to leave Parácuaro, move the family to Apatzingan, Morelia for a short while and finally settle in Juárez, Chihuahua, where Alberto lived the remainder of his childhood.

At the age of five years, Alberto was sent to the boarding school known as Centro de Mejoramiento Infantil located in Juárez (now known as the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Juárez - Technological Institute of Juarez). In a strange place and away from his mother, Alberto had to mature at a very young age. At the boarding school, Alberto was befriended by Juan Contreras, a teacher at the school who became his mentor and guardian. Juan taught Alberto various crafts and skills to earn money but his greatest gift was the teachings of the various musical skills that Juan possessed. Alberto took a liking in the guitar and was fortunate to have wonderful tutor in Juan. As a result, at the age of 13, Alberto composed his first song La Muerte del Palomo, essentially the beginning of an amazing musical career.