All About Pepe Aguilar's Daughter Ángela Aguilar

Pepe Aguilar and his wife, Aneliz Alvarez Acala, welcomed their youngest child Ángela in 2003

When Grammy-winning regional Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar’s daughter Ángela Aguilar became a performer herself, he instilled in her an important lesson that she’s always carried: be grateful for the opportunity.

"What my dad has always told me is that if you're not appreciating it, and if you're not happy with it, just go,” the ranchera singer told PEOPLE in 2023. “Because there's a lot of people that do want to be here.”

While being part of the third generation of The Aguilar Dynasty (La Dinastía Aguilar in Spanish), Ángela’s gratitude and embrace of her Mexican-American roots have propelled her to become her own household name in mariachi and ranchera music.

Her traditional, yet modern take on the ranchera genre have earned her several accolades in the industry — accomplishments she believes have stemmed from Pepe playing such a vital role in her upbringing.

“When I was a little girl, I didn’t know what I wanted to be, but I knew I wanted to be like him,” she said before presenting a legacy award to her dad at the 2023 Latin Music Awards. “My father has sold millions of albums ... he’s a songwriter, singer, producer, entrepreneur but most of all, a great man."

Here’s everything to know about Pepe Aguilar’s daughter, Ángela Aguilar.

Ángela was born in 2003

Pepe and his wife, philanthropist Aneliz Alvarez Acala, welcomed their daughter, Ángela, on Oct. 8, 2003, in Los Angeles. At the time, Aneliz was on tour with Pepe when she gave birth.

The couple raised their second daughter as a bilingual dual citizen in California and Mexico alongside her older sister, Aneliz Aguilar, born on April 7, 1998, and younger brother, Leonardo Aguilar, whose birth date is Aug. 15, 1999.

Ángela has tremendous pride in her upbringing, which has greatly inspired her evolving identity as an artist.

“I was born in Los Angeles, and I’ve been living here all my life,” she explained to The Washington Post in 2019. “But that doesn’t make me any less Mexican and that doesn’t make me any less part of my culture. Before being American, I am Mexican. Before I spoke English, I spoke Spanish.”

According to Ángela’s online bio, all throughout her childhood, she dedicated her time to her studies and performing. While developing her own style and space in the music industry, she grew up knowing that family was her top priority, calling her Aguilar relatives “the biggest blessing you never take for granted.”

She began singing at the age of 3

Growing up, Ángela spent lots of time around her musically gifted family, including her late grandparents — the Mexican music titan Antonio Aguilar and renowned Mexican actress and singer Flor Silvestre.

Just like Antonio had done when Pepe was 3 years old, Pepe brought Ángela on stage at the same age for the first time. In front of 80,000 fans during one of the last stops on Antonio’s final tour, Pepe placed a microphone on her and she proceeded to sing part of the song “Si Vieras.” Her bio notes that after that moment, she realized how much she liked to perform.

As she continued to travel and sing with her family, Ángela remembers mimicking the sounds and vibrations of the train, airplane or bus she was on to experiment with her own sound and style.

“It started becoming a treat for me when I was a little kid. It was amazing,” she said to Grammy.com in 2019. “As I started growing, I started accompanying my dad to all his different shows.”

When she was 7, Ángela visited her first recording studio and covered Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Two years later, she and her brother Leonardo, who is also a singer, collaborated on her first studio album, Nueva Tradición (New Tradition in English).

By the time Ángela was 13, she was making headlines for becoming the youngest performer at the BBC 100 Women festival in Mexico City, an event aimed to highlight women’s rights and Mexican cultural issues.

"It's an industry of men and I hope that will change," Ángela explained to BBC in 2016 about the ranchera music business. “Nobody has discriminated against me as a woman but I know that it does happen and I want it to change.”

Ángela’s a Grammy-nominated singer

When she received her first Grammy nomination for best Mexican music album (including Tejano) for her second studio album Primero Soy Mexicana (First I'm Mexican in English), which was produced by Pepe, then 15-year-old Ángela didn’t realize nominations were being announced.

It wasn’t until her sister, Aneliz, ran into her room and started jumping up and down on her bed that she received the good news.

“I never even thought I was gonna get nominated,” Ángela told Grammy.com. “So when my sister came to me I was completely, completely shocked. It was like, I don't know, 6 a.m., and I was with my parents running up to their room, going and telling them.”

Even though the Grammy ended up going to Luis Miguel that year for his album México Por Siempre! (Mexico Forever! in English), Ángela will never forget the moment she became a Grammy-nominated artist.

“It was super, super cool because I've always seen the Grammys, and I've always related them to my father,” she continued. “My father has [four] American Grammys and he has four Latin Grammys, so like whenever I thought of a Grammy I thought of him. I always used to go with him to all the awards ceremonies ... so this time it was like wow, it's my turn now.”

Ángela has also been nominated for three Latin Grammys — best new artist and best ranchero/mariachi album for Primero Soy Mexicana in 2018 and best ranchero/mariachi album for Mexicana Enamorada (Mexican Girl in Love in English) in 2022.

She performs with her dad

Since making her debut as a toddler, Ángela has been carrying on the Aguilar family tradition of mariachi and ranchera music.

Beginning in 2018, she’s performed alongside Pepe, Leonardo and her uncle, Antonio Jr., for their Jaripeo Sin Fronteras (Jaripeo Without Borders in English) and Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos (Jaripeo to the Bones in English) tours throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

The opportunity to perform in a production steeped in Mexican tradition — featuring mariachi, banda and norteño music, horses, bulls, traditional wide-brimmed sombreos and lavish charro outfits — with her family legacy attached to it is something that Ángela doesn’t take for granted.

“We literally won the genetic lottery,” Ángela told Billboard in 2022 about herself and Leonardo. “I think that to be where we are and to sing what we sing is an immense responsibility, and I hope one day we make it to be as big as my grandparents and as big as my dad. It’s very humbling to be part of this.”

Pepe also feels grateful to have the chance to sing with his kids and carry on the traditions of his parents.

“This tour is something that will never get old because it’s far bigger than me, my daughter and my son. We’re talking about culture here,” he said. “We’re just passing through, and culture stays for generations to come. Banda, rancheras, horses — that was here before my father and that’ll be here long after we’re gone.”

While Ángela is in awe of Pepe’s talent, the artist told the Houston Chronicle in 2019 that when it comes to performing together as father and daughter, their dynamic is much more professional on stage. Still, she shared that her dad watches out for her during certain moments, like stunts, by speaking to her through an earpiece.

“That’s what’s so good about having a dad that’s a manager and a dad that’s a singer, because he gets everything. He’s been through everything that I’ve been doing,” Ángela said.

Pepe added that talking in her ear during performances and being Ángela’s manager is a “matter of trusting each other.”

She’s inspired by Lady Gaga’s work

Ángela has listed off many musicians and singer-songwriters that have influenced her music, including The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Rocío Dúrcal, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Pink Floyd, Coldplay and Lady Gaga.

The “Born This Way” singer has especially loomed big for Ángela in recent years: After being nominated for her first Grammy in 2018, Ángela told The Washington Post that “she might faint” if she were to see Gaga at the Grammys ceremony.

Gaga ended up winning that year for best duo/group performance and best song written for visual media for the hit “Shallow” from A Star Is Born.

“I saw A Star Is Born and cried so much,” Ángela said. “The soundtrack is amazing.”

She was so inspired by the song that she performed her own cover of “Shallow” for the Grammy YouTube channel in July 2019. Before she could do so, however, Ángela told Ventaneando that she had to seek permission directly from Gaga.

Thinking it wasn’t possible, Ángela almost passed up on the opportunity, but when her mom and team reached out, she was delighted to learn that the “Just Dance” vocalist gave her the green light and told her to practice.

“I was like, ‘Madre mia, I’m going to die,’ ” Ángela recalled in Spanish.

Ángela’s dating Christian Nodal

In June 2024, HOLA! confirmed that Ángela is dating Mexican singer-songwriter Christian Nodal, and the two are “in love” and “excited about this new stage of their lives.”

“It is not a new relationship; it’s the continuation of a story that life made us pause so we could grow and miss each other,” they told the outlet. “Because when we let go, we returned even closer.”

Ángela and Christian have known each other and been friends for years, notably traveling together during the Jaripeo Sin Fronteras tour in 2018 and later collaborating on the 2020 hit “Dime Cómo Quieres."

News of their romantic relationship dropped a little over two weeks after it was announced that Christian had split with his ex-girlfriend of two years, Argentine rapper and singer Cazzu (whose given name is Julieta Emilia Cazzuchelli). Together, Christian and Cazzu welcomed a baby girl named Inti in September 2023.

Shortly after their joint dating announcement, Christian posted an Instagram video clarifying that he and the “Qué Agonía” singer didn’t begin their relationship until things had ended between him and Cazzu.

Ángela followed his message up with one of her own, which she shared with the magazine Quién. "People don’t have to know my truth. Let people talk and say what they will," she said. "I know who I am, and the important people in my life also know."

She’s a fashionista

With an audience of over 22 million on social media, Ángela has become known online for her unique style, which often incorporates both traditional Mexican folklore attire and modern pieces.

She’s also proud to wear extravagant dresses in bright, bold colors and traditional charro outfits from Mexican designers and different parts of Mexico at her shows.

"Since I was little, I really wanted to keep the Mexican traditions alive but modernize it a little bit more,” Ángela told PEOPLE in 2023 while promoting her Piensa En Mi tour. “And this tour, we're gonna work a lot with silhouettes.”

She approaches her outfits like her style of mariachi and ranchera music: a blend of old and new to keep things fresh and interesting, while still paying respect to traditions and culture.

“I'm a girl that sings but these traditions must stay alive. And I love that little girls come and see my dresses and they ask their parents, 'Hey, what is that?' You know, I don't see that normally.’ "

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