Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by María Jose Cuevas, Netflix’s ‘Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will’ is a documentary series that lives up to its title by shining a light upon the incredible life of the titular Mexican singer-songwriter. Born Alberto Aguilera Valadezl, he had managed to do wonders in the music industry by having a career spanning 45 years, which he always dedicated to his craft and fans. This much is even iterated by Laura Salas, the woman with whom he raised 4 children and one of his closest friends – they weren’t married, but they did love one another in their own way.
Laura Salas and Juan Gabriel Shared a Rather Unique Relationship
It was around the 1970s when Laura Salas first came across Juan Gabriel as Alberto Aguilera through her brother, Jesus Salas. The two men were actually friends who had met during their teenage years, when they were struggling to make ends meet or even live in a stable household. However, over time, through unwavering support of one another, their ambitions, and their determination, they were able to build an unwavering, successful career together. No matter what, they were as tight as brothers at every step of the way through Juan’s international fame.
The truth is, Jesus was not only Juan’s friend but also almost his brother-in-law of sorts since the musician and his sister got together around the early 1990s to raise children together. According to Laura’s own accounts, she was once invited by Juan to his property in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to meet his two eldest sons, Ivan Aguilera and Joan Ivan Aguilera. They never spoke of the two boys’ biological mother, especially because the musician had long made it clear that he wanted to get a mother-figure involved in their lives.
Little did Juan know that Laura had great maternal instincts and would end up falling in love with the two toddlers, driving her to assert that she would take on the role of a mother for them. He obviously agreed, resulting in them falling into a partship of sorts that continued throughout their lives, even when Juan fathered another son named Hans Aguilera. Eventually, Laura gave birth to their fourth son, yet only biological child, Jean Gabriel Aguilera, who completed their unit. Even though Laura was the biological mother of only one of the four boys, she treated all of them as her own, equally.
Laura is well aware of the fact that many people speculate she stepped up for financial reasons or to take advantage of the musician, but she vehemently denies it. “Many people thought I did it for the money, but God knows I didn’t,” she stated in the documentary series. “It was for the love of the children, because God touched my heart through them.” As for her connection with Juan, both of them always maintained that they were just friends who had decided to raise a family together, meaning there was never anything romantic between them. Juan once even described Laura as “the best friend of his life.”
Laura Salas Likely Splits Her Time Between Mexico and the US Today
Since Juan Gabriel always preferred to keep his personal life under wraps, most of his loved ones respected his wishes and thus chose to lead rather private lives too, including Laura Salas. Therefore, all we know for certain is that the relationship she and Juan shared was always mutually platonic, with their sole focus being on making each other happy and providing a good life for their 4 sons. The only thing she publicly asserted before her best friend’s sudden passing on August 28, 2016, from a cardiac arrest was that Juan Gabriel and Alberto Aguilera were two different people. She said that whenever the musician was with her and their family, he left his over-the-top, flamboyant stage persona behind.
According to records, when Laura heard of Juan’s passing, she was left shattered because no one could have seen it coming, especially with him having performed in concert just the evening prior. In one of the rare interviews Laura has since given, she revealed, “I appreciate your words (of condolences), but please understand how we feel… We were in contact with him, we were always in touch, talking, in person. Nobody expected it.” In other words, they had kept in touch long after their children had grown up because what they shared was truly unique.
After Juan’s passing, two individuals came forward to claim they were also Juan’s children – one from Texas and one from California – and DNA testing proved it to be true. As per reports, Juan had fathered them with his domestic employees at different times, and once their claims were indeed confirmed, they filed to have a share in his estate. Juan’s last will reportedly only named his four children that he raised with Laura as his beneficiaries; in fact, even she was allegedly not named in his will. What followed were countless rumors, but Laura later revealed there was no real family dispute between the four brothers – Iván, Joan, Hans, and Jean – over the inheritance.
Since then, Laura has preferred to lead her life well away from the spotlight, likely splitting her time between Mexico and the US to unwaveringly support and be close to all four of her sons. The only time she is now seen in public is when a member of the family decides to pay Juan a tribute or is crossing a milestone in their personal or private lives, such as Jean’s rise as a musician. Unfortunately, though, Laura has endured a lot of loss in recent times because, apart from Juan, she has also lost her brother. Jesus Salas sadly passed away on January 7, 2025, on the day his close friend/the iconic musician, would have celebrated his 75th birthday.
