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Creator of Juan Gabriel's "Los Duo" album covers shares inspiration behind look

SAN ANTONIO -- Local record stores are inundated with calls from Juan Gabriel fans looking to grab copies of his music after his sudden death Sunday morning.

SAN ANTONIO -- Local record stores are inundated with calls from Juan Gabriel fans looking to grab copies of his music after his sudden death Sunday morning.

Fans waited patiently in the parking lot of Janie's Record Shop off Bandera Road for the doors to open, hoping to find any of the singer's classic albums.

Juan Gabriel, 66, died from a heart attack inside his home in California at 11:30 Sunday.

He is Mexico's top-selling artist with more than 100 million albums sold.

His three-hour concerts were always sold out. Juan Gabriel just performed in San Antonio in November and was scheduled to perform to a sold out crowd in El Paso Sunday night.

Fans were stunned to hear the news.

"I had a customer that said she was going to Vegas to see him for an upcoming concert. She was going to be celebrating her birthday. He was to be in Vegas next month or October, and she was devastated," said Rebecca DeLeon of Janie's Record Shop.

The store has an entire wall covered in Juan Gabriel albums dating back to his early days.

"It's when someone passes, someone so great like Juan Gabriel, that people start realizing how great their music was," said Robert Esparza of Janie's Record Shop.

Many of the album covers you'll see inside the store, including the famous Selena logo, are from the mind of Creative Director, Ruben Cubillos.

Cubillos teamed up with Juan Gabriel's producers in one of the singer's latest projects. Cubillos created the album cover for the singer's "Los duo" albums, where Juan Gabriel teamed up with other artists to cover his greatest hits.

"It's the elements that come to a chef and they say, 'You know what? Cook up something delicious," Cubillos said.

Cubillos used photographs of the legend and incorporated pieces of Juan Gabriel's handmade attire to act as "stepping stones" through the written lyrics. The photos show Juan Gabriel posing with mannequins, creating his own modern, eclectic interpretation of Mexican tradition.

"I was able to look at it and analyze it and say, ok, this has to be very minimal because there's already a theme going on," Cubillos said. "There's already a style. It's got to be very eclectic, but very artistic at the same time. It's got to stand from the crowd."

To meet the high demand, employees at Janie's Record Shop said they are working with distributors to order all of Juan Gabriel's music on top of the merchandise already available.

"You feel sad, but you know a celebration's going to come after this," Cubillos said. "It's two emotions at once."

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