Juan Gabriel, Mexican superstar singer, dead at 66

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Sunday, August 28, 2016
Singer Juan Gabriel
Singer Juan Gabriel performs during the Latin Billboard Awards on April 28, 2016 in Coral Gables, Fla.
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The press office for Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel says the singer has died at age 66. The statement says he died Sunday, but does not say where.

Juan Gabriel was Mexico's leading singer-songwriter and top-selling artist, with sales of more than 100 million albums.

His ballads about love and heartbreak and bouncy mariachi tunes became hymns throughout Latin America and Spain and with Spanish speakers in the United States. He brought many adoring fans to tears as they sang along when he crooned his songs about love and heartbreak.

A flamboyant performer, Juan Gabriel liked to wear jackets covered in sequins or dress in shiny silk outfits in hot pink, turquoise blue or canary yellow, and he was known for tossing his head before dancing or jumping around the stage.

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In this Feb. 10, 2012 file photo, actor Max von Sydow poses at the International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin.
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