text: Early life María Guadalupe Araujo Yong was born in Guamúchil, Sinaloa, Mexico on December 10, 1955. She did not receive formal training for singing and she credits her maternal grandfather Roberto Yong, an immigrant from China, for providing the only singing coaching she received.
  She first sang on the stage at age six, singing "Regalo A Dios" by José Alfredo Jiménez. She moved to Tijuana, Baja California and studied accounting. At age 21, in 1977, she recorded her first song, titled "Compréndeme".
  Career
  In 1987, Ana Gabriel won third place at the OTI Festival, celebrated in Lisbon, Portugal, where she performed an orchestral version of the pop-power ballad song "Ay Amor", which later was released as a single in its album version; it climbed to the top position in Mexico, throughout Ibero-America and on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart for 14 consecutive weeks.
  In 1988 Gabriel released her first album, Tierra de Nadie, followed by Pecado Original in 1989, which met with some chart success. Her 1990 album Quién Como Tú made her a force within the Mexican music industry. Eight months later, her live album En Vivo showcased her powerful stage act and scored several hits: "Hice Bien Quererte", "Propuesta", and "Solamente una Vez".