Latin

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
The first person to believe in the musical talent of María Guadalupe Araujo Yong, later known as Ana Gabriel, was her grandfather, Roberto Yong. Born in China, his sister had been an opera singer, and it was he who taught the little girl to control her breathing, to take care of her voice, to respect the stage. It was also he who told her: “Among the green apples, try to be the red.” 

She did so, and against all expectations — she was told, since the very start, that her signature hoarse voice was “anti-aesthetic” — she landed 27 albums on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart (the woman with the most titles on this list) and six No. 1s on Hot Latin Songs, including megahits “Ay Amor” and “Evidencias,” both written by her, just like 90% of her hits. 

On the exclusive Billboard Greatest of All Time Latin Artists chart, Ana Gabriel is currently listed at No. 25. 

Today, in her 60s, the Mexican singer-songwriter is still a force of nature. Her current Por Amor a Ustedes world tour, which spans 36 arenas across the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, is sold out, and she’s planning a performance at the historic Olympia Theater in Paris — a perfect venue for a living legend. 

Billboard: I can’t think of any other Latina who at this age continues to tour the world’s stages with such success. Why do you do it? 

Ana Gabriel: Because there is an audience behind me that is my base, that takes me by the hand in what I give them as a person, as a human being, as a singer, as a composer. Because there are no lies when I’m onstage. I am the same: the one below, the one who is talking to you right now, and the one onstage; the only difference is one has makeup and one doesn’t. 

This audience is responsible for making me a living legend. They’ve supported me for many years because I have not lied to them. They know me so much, so much, so much that when I keep my distance or silence it is because they know that I’m taking time to recycle myself as a human being. 

You told me that you had been working on your spiritual side for some time. Tell us a little about that. 

Over the past 25 years I have reaffirmed that quest. The years open up other fields for you; they turn on little lights and turn off others. But my spiritual search comes from childhood because of the close and direct contact I had with my Chinese grandfather. He talked to me a lot about how they handled Zen, the center. How sometimes we have to control ourselves and how we have to learn to control ourselves. Because it is one thing to have character, and another to be strong in character. You have to define it. And that has taken me a lot of work. The only thing I can assure you is that I never stood on a little brick. I always kept my feet very much on the ground to know how tall I am.

Was your grandfather the one who taught you to sing? 

My grandfather is the one who gave me advice as a singer, how to position my voice, how to breathe so as not to hurt my vocal cords. He gave me the exercises that I didn’t understand when I was very young, and after standing on [a stage] for the first time in 1974, I realized what he was teaching me. He taught me to read aloud with a pencil under the tongue, for diction. 

Did he actually see you perform onstage? 

He did see me recording, but not standing on a stage. [Even so,] he was quite moved to see me and understood that I was born for that. My great inspiration to sing was my grandfather. He spoke to me a lot about the spiritual, about that side I must protect. To say thank you before stepping on the stage and to ask permission before entering it. 

It took you 10 years to get a label to believe in you. Why? 

It didn’t take me 10 years to sign with a label, but rather for someone at the label to believe in the voice, to believe in what Ana Gabriel brought to the table and support it. They said: “It’s just that your voice is strange.” They called it “anti-aesthetic.” It was the complete opposite of what was heard at that time, which was very high-pitched voices, and I arrived with the complete opposite. Even though my voice is very hoarse, I have a very high range. That’s what they didn’t understand. But also the record companies, to say it openly, have always been risk-averse. If one song worked, they want another one just like it. And as I learned from my grandfather: Try to be the red apple that stands among the green ones. Being different requires hard work, but if you have patience, you can do it. 

Do you consider yourself a composer first and then a performer? 

I identify as both. There is a very great duality. In fact, when I started composing I was ashamed to show my music. I said, “How am I going to open my spirit? How am I going to open my soul to people I don’t know? I prefer to sing songs by other composers.” But my first composition came along and that’s when I realized that what the public liked were my songs. Although I perform songs by other composers, 90% of my recordings are my own compositions, music and lyrics.

“Ay Amor” was your first No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs. Do you remember what you felt at that moment? 

I thanked God. I thanked my parents. My family. And again, the public. Without the public you cannot reach those levels. I never said, “Oh, I finally made it.” In fact, I must say, I have not made it yet. If I think I’ve already made it, I’m going to just sit in a comfortable spot and won’t allow myself to grow. You can’t just settle. 

At the end of this great tour, what’s next for you? 

First of all, continuing to be healthy. I have to take advantage of the fact that I can still sing, I can still move, jump onstage. What I don’t want is to fail the public onstage. When my tour in Europe is over, I’m going to pull myself together a bit and get back in the studio. In fact, we’re going to start recording a song that I perform in honor of two departed friends: Juan Gabriel and Rocío Dúrcal. And [I’m going to] plan what I’ll be doing at the Olympia in Paris — to appear there is one of the biggest dreams of my life. [After Lola Beltrán and Chavela Vargas,] I would be the third Mexican woman to step on that stage. 

Tickets to Billboard‘s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
On a recent Sunday in Miami, Thalia waits for me at the entrance of Sony Music’s 50/20 recording studio, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, with a baseball cap over her almost makeup-free face, to talk about her new project, Thalia’s Mixtape El Soundtrack De Mi Vida.

“You don’t know what this project means!” she tells me, brimming with emotion. “It’s that mixtape back from when I was a teenager! Those songs that were the soundtrack of my life were rock in Spanish.” 

With or without makeup, in front of or behind the camera, Thalia always speaks with exclamation points — her voice rises and falls in a narrative arc that keeps her listener in a state of engagement. It is an essential quality that has permeated the work and the very essence of Ariadna Thalia Sodi Miranda, from her days as a child TV actress, to her tenure with pop group Timbiriche in the 1980s, to her rise to queen of soap operas and then, to queen of the Billboard charts. Since her 1995 debut album, En Éxtasis, Thalia has placed 13 top 10 hits on the Top Latin Albums chart, as well as four No. 1s. 

Now, she blends visual and musical content, past and present, on the 11-track album Thalia’s Mixtape (out April 28 on Sony Music Latin), for which she covered not only her favorite songs — including Soda Estéreo’s “Persiana Americana,” Aterciopelados’ “Florecita Rockera” and “Duélveveme a Mi Chica” by Hombres G — but also sought out their authors, including Charly Alberti and David Summers, for the recording of both the songs and new music videos. The audiovisual product, Thalia’s Mixtape El Soundtrack De Mi Vida, is available as a three-episode series on Paramount+. 

“My great challenge as an artist is to give the best quality to my audience. The experience, the fun, entertaining them, singing for them, expressing myself through all kinds of musical genres is part of the package,” says the artist, who will be honored with the Global Powerhouse award at Billboard‘s inaugural Latin Women In Music event, airing May 7 on Telemundo.

How do you feel about being a part of the first group of Latin Women in Music honored by Billboard? 

I feel proud, I feel honored; I feel that I belong to a group of extremely talented, powerful women, full of vigor, full of that strength that is so contagious. It’s that sisterhood, that friendship; it is that family that we have built for years that includes singers, producers and executives. 

Who inspired you as a child? 

My mother! Yolanda Miranda de Sodi, period. Setting gender aside, that person’s soul was so powerful that she spoke face to face with any man, with a security and strength that at that time, in that patriarchal system, was impossible. And this woman went against the tide. Also, we are five sisters. My father died when I was 6 years old, so I grew up in a matriarchy. Everything was woman power. I tasted it, I lived it in my house. Women first, women above. 

Did you feel embraced by her? Empowered? 

We have to find a word other than “empowered.” What other word? 

Powerful? 

A powerful woman! A woman with power! A being with power. That’s it.

You stand out, among other things, for having helped many women in your career by recording with artists on the rise. Why have you done that? 

It has always felt good for me to do it. From my perspective, we are better together. If you look good, I will look better. If it’s good for you, it’s good for me too. That’s how I think, and especially when it comes to young, female artists. They go against many prejudices, and in an industry dominated by men it’s important for them to have another woman to support them. 

You opened doors that were closed. Was there a particularly difficult moment? I remember reading that when you were a teenager you were scolded by a TV host on-air. 

Yes. Just imagine the patriarchal system that we lived in, and that still exists. A girl who had just released her first song, her first album, with stars in her eyes, and suddenly they tell you, live: “You’re ordinary, you’re cheap, how can you wear that makeup?” If something like this happened to you now, you’d say: “Wow, there are millions [of women] behind me, and you stop right there.” But at that time there was a system that allowed everything, and everything was normalized. 

You are heavily involved in the production aspect of both music and video. Why? 

When I went solo, I became 100% involved in my videos, in the mix, in the composition. Remember, I lived for many years under the telenovela regime: “Stand here, stand there.” I was up to here with instructions. Now I’m the one calling the shots. And I know what my audience wants to see from me, and I have an inkling of what young people want. 

What advice do you give up-and-coming artists? 

To be themselves. Don’t be afraid of not fitting. It’s OK not to belong, because there is only one person like you on the planet. And we have this society where we’re constantly taught that you have to fit in the pack. I have news for you — you can be yourself and you will find your audience, and you will find your niche, and you will find your expression. 

What’s your mantra? 

I don’t know if it’s a mantra, but it’s faith. I believe that God is always giving me light. That is my gift. 

At the Academy Awards, Michelle Yeoh, at 60, accepted her Oscar for best actress and said: “Ladies, never let anyone tell you you’re past your prime.” What do you think of those words? 

One hundred percent! I believe that life is a constant evolution. Everyone is going to die, everyone is going to grow old, we are all going to depend on each other. That’s life. And if you go there, do all you can to enjoy the trip. Do everything that challenges you, do everything that gives you a vision, do everything that you fear. 

Are you in your prime? 

I am always in my prime! It’s a constant prime state of mind. 

Tickets to Billboard‘s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.