For the first time, the curtain lifts on one of Latin America’s most enigmatic icons. Netflix’s new documentary series “Juan Gabriel: Debo, Puedo y Quiero” promises to reveal what few have ever seen — the private world of Alberto Aguilera Valadez, the man millions knew only as Juan Gabriel.
Scheduled to premiere on October 30, 2025, this four-part series grants audiences unprecedented access to the late artist’s personal archives, including hundreds of hours of home videos he filmed himself, offering a rare glimpse into the mind of a musical genius who turned his own heartbreak into anthems for generations.
Juan Gabriel's emotional new documentary: Netflix honors the late star with 'Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will'
Far from a standard biography, this documentary is an emotional excavation. Through never-before-seen footage, intimate testimonies, and meticulous research spanning nearly two years, "Debo, Puedo y Quiero" reconstructs the journey of a man who defied every convention, from his humble beginnings in Ciudad Juárez to becoming one of the most beloved and prolific figures in Spanish-language music.
Directed by María José Cuevas ("Bellas de Noche," "La Dama del Silencio: El caso Mataviejitas") and produced by Laura Woldenberg and Ivonne Gutiérrez, the series not only celebrates his dazzling career but also dissects the complexity behind his charisma, vulnerability, and relentless creativity.
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Cuevas and her team had access to 2,268 tapes, 2,500 personal photos, and nearly half a million audio recordings, compiling 948 hours of unseen footage — a treasure trove that Juan Gabriel himself began recording in the 1970s. These materials reveal a dual portrait: Juan Gabriel, the superstar who filled stadiums and redefined masculinity through flamboyance and sensitivity, and Alberto, the man behind the sequins, searching for belonging, love, and artistic freedom in a world that didn’t always understand him.
The docuseries captures both the spectacle and solitude of a man who lived on stage yet kept his truest self behind the camera.
Known as “El Divo de Juárez,” Juan Gabriel’s influence transcended borders, genres, and generations. He wrote over 1,800 songs, many of which became pillars of Latin music, including "Amor Eterno," "Querida," "Hasta Que Te Conocí," "Se Me Olvidó Otra Vez," and more, performed not only by him but by legends like Rocío Dúrcal, José José, Ana Gabriel, and Luis Miguel.
His music turned grief into poetry, loneliness into community, and flamboyance into empowerment. And even nine years after his death, his voice still echoes across continents, a fact underscored by Mexico’s Society of Authors and Composers, which reports that every 40 seconds, somewhere in the world, a Juan Gabriel song is playing.
Juan Gabriel's emotional new documentary: Netflix honors the late star with 'Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will'
"Juan Gabriel: Debo, Puedo y Quiero" doesn’t just aim to celebrate his art; it dares to understand the person who created it. With testimonies from those who knew him best, scenes filmed in cities that defined his life, from Ciudad Juárez to Los Angeles and Acapulco, and a soundtrack of 54 of his compositions, the series invites viewers to meet the real Juan Gabriel: the dreamer, the provocateur, the poet of pain.
It’s not just a documentary; it’s a love letter to an artist who made millions feel seen, who lived as loudly as he sang, and whose legacy still shapes the heartbeat of Mexican music.
Far from a standard biography, this documentary is an emotional excavation.
During an interview for ¡HOLA!, María José Cuevas, Laura Woldenberg, and Ivonne Gutiérrez shared details of the documentary.
How did you gain access to Juan Gabriel’s personal files, and what surprised you the most about what you found?
LW: “We’d wanted to make this project for a very long time. It’s a huge responsibility. Finally, at the beginning of 2023, we were able to present the project to the family and explain that our goal was to preserve Juan Gabriel’s legacy and help new generations get to know him, but also contribute something new. Juan Gabriel’s story was already known, and there had been plenty of projects in different formats, but what we felt was missing was something that revealed the person behind Juan Gabriel.
We knew he had filmed parts of his life, but we never imagined we would receive so much material—four decades of his life, from the 1970s to the mid-2000s. That became the heart of the project, and the material that the family shared with us as a bond of trust began to form.
There were tapes with recordings that had never been reviewed, just sitting there gathering dust, waiting for a team that could look through them and help tell the story from Juan Gabriel’s own point of view.
This series is told by Juan Gabriel himself—through his personal archive.”
"Juan Gabriel: Debo, Puedo y Quiero" doesn’t just aim to celebrate his art; it dares to understand the person who created it.
The series combines material that Juan Gabriel recorded himself with new interviews and visuals. How did you balance his voice with your own creative direction?
MJC: “It’s a whole process. The first step is understanding the material, but my biggest challenge throughout was trying to understand Alberto Aguilera to understand Juan Gabriel—and making sure my own point of view didn’t interfere, letting the material itself speak to us.
As a director, what interested me most was reaching that level of intimacy that could reveal another side of him, finding the soul within those moments that say so much about who he was.
In addition to the videos, we had access to cassette tapes where we could hear him humming a melody or saying a motivational phrase, and all of that became clues that helped us understand where his songs came from.
We also found notebooks where, as a teenager, he wrote down his songs—including his very first one, ‘La muerte del palomo.’ All these elements helped us build a portrait of both the private and the public man.”
Juan Gabriel’s life challenged social stigmas long before open conversations about identity existed. How did you approach those themes in today’s context?
IG: “It’s essential to understand who Juan Gabriel was—and still is—by also understanding the Mexico of that time. Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s was quite conservative, macho, classist, and closed off. Then suddenly, Juan Gabriel emerged like a flower growing through the pavement—an artist who shattered stigmas and prejudices, and who was also a charming man capable of captivating any audience, whether at a palenque or at Bellas Artes.
He was an artist who transcended boundaries in such an organic way. He simply was who he was—and that authenticity is what made people embrace him.
Of course, today’s Mexico is different. The social context has changed. But even so, he remains a symbol of freedom—something that was deeply embedded in his being. He didn’t need to wave a flag for any cause, and that, to us, was profoundly meaningful.”
Juan Gabriel at "Veranazo - El Concierto 2002" at Dodger Statium.
On an emotional level, what was the most difficult moment to portray, and how did you know you had captured it successfully?
LW: “I don’t know if there was a single defining moment, but there was definitely a balance we had to find—between telling the story of his private, more intimate life, and portraying the icon everyone knows. At times we felt like spies in his home, or like his closest friends, his confidants. Then we had to take all that and bring it to the stage without falling into sensationalism, trying instead to create the most honest portrait possible of such an important person—and that was complex.”
MJC: “We also needed a clear timeline to guide us through the major events in his life. There was so much said about scandals, and we spent a lot of time thinking about how to approach those moments without crossing into gossip territory.”
What do you hope new generations—who may only know Juan Gabriel as a legend—will discover through this documentary?
IG: “Definitely for people to truly get to know Juan Gabriel—and also his human side. It was challenging, but we enjoyed the process of building that story. New generations have surely heard his songs—some might be fans, others only know them in passing—but the goal is for them to meet Alberto, the man behind the idol, the humanity behind the artist we all admire.”
Looking at the project as a whole, what does Juan Gabriel teach us about resilience, art, and reinvention in the cultural history of Latin America?
MJC: “To understand Juan Gabriel, you have to go back in time. In those days, to become popular, you had to go through Televisa—but he overcame every obstacle, won over every audience, and shared his music from a place of honesty. Juan Gabriel’s greatest triumph was that he never pretended to be something he wasn’t. He always stayed true to his roots, and that authenticity is what truly connects with people.”
Legendary Mexican singer Juan Gabriel receives the 2196th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Netflix’s “Juan Gabriel: Debo, Puedo y Quiero” deep dive into the private world of Alberto Aguilera Valadez, the man millions knew only as Juan Gabriel. Enjoy this four-part series on October 30, 2025, which grants audiences unprecedented access to the late artist’s personal archives.
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