美国国家公共电台 NPR Juan Gabriel, The 'Divo Of Juarez,' Dies At 66

Juan Gabriel, The 'Divo Of Juarez,' Dies At 66 

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The Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel has died at the age of 66. The Latin-American superstar was in the middle of a 22-city arena² tour of the United States when he suffered a massive heart attack in Santa Monica, Calif. Gabriel became the best-selling artist in Mexican history. NPR's Eyder Peralta tells us that many of his songs were essential to the Latin-American songbook.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE³: Juan Gabriel's signature was his epic⁴ love songs. They started wistful.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "QUERIDA")

PERALTA: (Singing in Spanish).

PERALTA: But like "Querida," Juan Gabriel's biggest hit, they turned into full-blown anthems⁵ for lonely lovers.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "QUERIDA")

JUAN GABRIEL: (Singing in Spanish).

PERALTA: Juan Gabriel wrote pop songs and rock songs. He sang with mariachis and full blown orchestras, producing dozens of hits. Other artists recorded his songs, and on occasion, he recorded theirs. He recently covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?"

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN?")

GABRIEL: (Singing in Spanish).

PERALTA: Juan Manuel Caipo, who produced that album, said it showed what a chameleon⁶ the singer-songwriter was. Caipo says, in that sense, Juan Gabriel was a lot like Prince.

JUAN MANUEL CAIPO: Not just as a songwriter, but as a performer, as a vocalist. He was just someone that was - he just crossed those genre⁷ lines without having to really do much to what he did.

PERALTA: Juan Gabriel had a tough start. His mother was not able to take care of him. So he was sent to an orphanage⁸ in Juarez. He escaped, and he said he began to sing on streetcars because it made him feel free. In 1971, he landed his first hit, titled "I Don't Have Any Money."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO TENGO DINERO")

GABRIEL: (Singing in Spanish).

PERALTA: By one count, Juan Gabriel put out some 2,000 songs. And he was known for marathon live shows. He was the first non-classical act to play the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. He sang "Eternal Love," a song he wrote for his late mother.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AMOR ETERNO")

GABRIEL: (Singing in Spanish).

PERALTA: He came on stage with mariachis backing him and wearing a jacket lined with sequins. His flamboyance⁹ earned him the nickname, the Divo of Juarez.

LEILA COBO: Juan Gabriel was very effeminate on stage. And yet, he was one of these artists that if you went to a Juan Gabriel concert, you would see these macho guys in tears, and you would see girls in tears.

PERALTA: That's Leila Cobo of Billboard¹⁰ magazine.

COBO: He was, you know, very sexually ambiguous. And yet, he was able to reach everybody. And I think it's a little bit the power of the songs, too. The songs were very easy to relate with. And this guy, he really kind of lived his songs.

PERALTA: He never married, but Juan Gabriel did have four children. Cobo says Juan Gabriel died just as his career had taken a turn. Romanticism, in Latin music, had given way to urban beats. But lately, Juan Gabriel's music was making a roaring comeback.

COBO: He was having the year of his life. In the last year, he had the top-selling Latin album of the year in the U.S. And also, he had the highest-grossing Latin tour of the year.

PERALTA: Mexico's president, Enrique Pena Nieto, tweeted that Juan Gabriel's music is a legacy¹¹ to the entire world. Eyder Peralta, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF JUAN GABRIEL SONG)

GABRIEL: (Singing in Spanish).

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

5 anthems   

n.赞美诗( anthem的名词复数 )；圣歌；赞歌；颂歌

参考例句：

• They usually play the national anthems of the teams at the beginning of a big match. 在大型赛事开始前，他们通常演奏参赛国国歌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rise please, rise for the anthems of & . 请全体起立，奏和两国国歌。 来自互联网

6 chameleon   

n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人

参考例句：

• The chameleon changes colour to match its surroundings.变色龙变换颜色以适应环境。
• The chameleon can take on the colour of its background.变色龙可呈现出与其背景相同的颜色。

7 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

8 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

9 flamboyance   

n.火红；艳丽；炫耀

参考例句：

• She allows herself no flamboyance in her clothes. 她不穿华丽的衣服。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His flamboyance earned him instant media attention. 他的浮夸招摇立即引起了舆论界的注意。 来自辞典例句

10 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

11 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。