Gabriel zavala biography

Gabriel Zavala grew up in poverty with 13 siblings.

Gabriel zavala biography

By the age of 5, he was helping support his family by selling Chiclets and shining shoes in the streets of Tijuana.

At age 20, Zavala crossed the border to pick strawberries in Placentia. He intended to return home, but instead became an American immigrant success story.

Musically gifted, Zavala worked in a steel foundry by day and joined his brothers in a mariachi band at night.

Los Siete Hermanos Zavala, one of Orange County’s first mariachi groups, played at restaurants, weddings and private parties – including a fete at John Wayne’s Newport Beach house.

In 1996, Zavala founded the nonprofit Rhythmo Mariachi Academy in Anaheim.

For the next 25 years, he taught thousands of young people to play the guitar, violin, trumpet and to do the joyous yelp called a grito.

Zavala, 76, died Feb. 26 of complications from COVID-19. His family hopes to revive the academy once the pandemic fades.