Juan Gabriel's grandchildren attended the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards with family as performers from across the Spanish-speaking music world honored their grandfather, a decade after his death.
The October 22 ceremony at Miami's James L. Knight Center brought together Carlos Rivera, Pablo Alborán, Paola Jara, Jessi Uribe, and Yahritza y Su Esencia for a musical tribute to the Mexican singer and songwriter.
The family also posed together on the blue carpet. Their attendance brought a family connection to a night celebrating the songs of an artist whose work has continued to reach new audiences since his death on August 28, 2016, at age 66.
The Songs Behind Juan Gabriel's Billboard Tribute
The tribute featured a medley that included "Así Fue," "Me Nace del Corazón" and "Ya Lo Sé Que Tú Te Vas," with mariachi accompaniment, according to Infobae's account of the ceremony.
Alborán closed the performance with "Ya Lo Sé Que Tú Te Vas" as images of Juan Gabriel appeared on the screens.
The lineup brought together Rivera and Alborán's pop and ballad backgrounds, Jara and Uribe's Colombian música popular, and Yahritza y Su Esencia's regional Mexican sound. It reflected the breadth of a songwriter whose compositions moved through ranchera, banda, romantic ballads and pop.
For the family, the occasion placed Juan Gabriel's music before another awards-show audience ten years after his death. For the performers, it offered another opportunity to interpret a repertoire shared by artists across countries and generations.
A Musical Legacy Passed Between Generations
Born Alberto Aguilera Valadez in Parácuaro, Michoacán, Juan Gabriel released his first studio album, El Alma Joven..., in 1971. It included his breakthrough hit, "No Tengo Dinero."
The Recording Academy estimates that he wrote more than 1,500 songs during his lifetime. His compositions have been interpreted by artists including Rocío Dúrcal, Marc Anthony, Ana Gabriel, Jenni Rivera, Maná and Vicente Fernández.
His relationship with those interpreters became central to projects such as Los Dúo 2, which won Latin Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2016, following his death. The Latin Recording Academy had previously named him its Person of the Year in 2009.
Iván and Simona have also publicly discussed their role in carrying that work forward. In a 2022 announcement of agreements involving Juan Gabriel's estate, Virgin Music and Universal Music Publishing Group, the couple described their goal of preserving his artistic vision and bringing his music to future generations.
At the Billboard ceremony, that generational connection extended from the stage to the blue carpet, where the singer's family gathered as other artists performed the songs he left behind.
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