Mexicans say 'adios' to beloved singer Juan Gabriel

People gather around a statue depicting Mexican superstar songwriter and singer Juan Gabriel in Mexico City's Garibaldi plaza, Sunday Aug. 28, 2016. Juan Gabriel's publicist told The Associated Press that he died at 11:30 a.m. in his home in California. The singer, who was born Alberto Aguilera Valadez on Jan. 7, 1950, wrote his first song at age 13 and went on to compose more than 1,500 songs making him Mexico's leading singer-songwriter and top-selling artist with sales of more than 100 million albums. (AP Photo/Berenice Bautista)

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Juan Gabriel was more than just a songwriter and singer for the hundreds of fans in his native Mexico who thronged Mexico City's Garibaldi square to wish him farewell.

He was a legend, an artist who marked an era in people's lives.

"We work nights; when I got up I heard people singing Juan Gabriel songs in the streets," said mariachi musician Alvaro Hurtado, 52, who was busy playing favorites like "Amor Eterno" and "El Noa, noa" for clients who had come to Garibaldi to mark the singer's death Sunday.

Garibaldi is a national shrine to mariachi music, and a statue of Juan Gabriel stands in the plaza.

The statue was adorned with flowers, candles and serenades.

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