Love After Music follows the rise of Argentinian rock star Fito Páez, his career and personal life, and the tragedies he faced. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
In 1978, in Rosario, it’s the third year of military dictatorship in Argentina. Thousands of citizens are missing, especially youngsters. Musicians are persecuted by the authorities, and rock music is considered to be a voice of resistance.
Fito Páez and his friends perform at a bar, and after the show, they doubt if it was a great performance. Páez admits that no one noticed them, but one of his friends points out that Juan Baglietto, a talented musician in his own right, had come to see him.
Baglietto invites Páez to one of his band’s rehearsals, and before they can end their conversation, the cops come to raid the place. Páez still ends up joining Baglietto’s band and leaves quite an impression on them.
Páez’s father, Rodolfo, doesn’t approve of his son joining Baglietto. He doesn’t want his son to spend nights out. However, Páez’s grandmother allows him to go and join Baglietto while his father is away.
With Baglietto, Páez starts living what looks like a rockstar’s life and gets caught by the cops. Luckily, he is let go as he is a minor. Páez’s father takes note of his son’s adventures.
Rodolfo doesn’t punish his son; he understands him and gifts him a new keyboard instead. In return, he makes him promise that he won’t leave school no matter what. If he has a gig out of town, his father will drop him off and pick him up, and most importantly, Páez must not go to Buenos Aires, as things are ugly out there.
For the next course of the year, Baglietto’s band gets popular, and they receive a chance to play a big show in Buenos Aires. Páez has grown up, and he decides not to keep his promise.
Páez informs his father about the show and leaves on his own accord after reminding him that he didn’t come asking for his permission. While Páez is away, his father’s health deteriorates.
In Buenos Aires, Charly García observes Páez’s performance and notes that Páez is imitating him. An impressed Charly invites Paez to join his band.
While working with Charly, Páez not only learns how brilliant Charly is, but he also falls in love with the female singer of Charly’s band, Fabiana Cantilo.
In December 1983, during one of Charly’s shows, Andres Gallo sees the people cheering loudly for Páez. He invites Páez to a meeting, where Páez is offered a record deal. Páez has already backed successful artists, and they think it’s time he should get his own album.
Working on his own albums and playing for Charly, among other things, becomes overwhelming for Páez, making him choose one of those things.
Meanwhile, Páez’s father, Rodolfo, continues to suffer, and amidst the big shows, Páez isn’t able to contact him. He makes up for it by mentioning his father live on TV and calling him the reason behind his musical success; after all, Rodolfo was the one who introduced Páez to various kinds of music.
Páez planned on visiting his father, but a call informing him that his father is dying forced Páez to quickly leave for Rosario. Tragedies for Páez continue as his girlfriend, Fabiana, gets sick and his grandmother’s house is attacked.
The burglars who broke into Páez’s house killed his grandmothers and the maid. They also planted marijuana in the house, possibly to incriminate Páez.
These deaths heavily affect Páez and push him into depression, affecting his relationship with Fabiana and his career. Páez’s uncle and aunt, Eduardo and Charito, later notice that a pearl necklace and Fito’s cassette player is missing and give the cops a clue to open a new line of investigation.
Love After Music ending explained in detail:
Do the murderers get caught?
The cops search for the missing necklace, and an undercover cop finds it around the neck of a prostitute after months of investigation. He questions her, keeps an eye on her, and soon sees her meeting her boyfriend, who gifted her the necklace.
Apparently, this suspect had joined the police after committing the murders. The cops track him down and put him under arrest. It is revealed that the culprit, Walter De Giusti, used to go to Páez’s school. Páez’s old cassette player is also discovered at Walter’s house.
Do Páez and Fabiana part ways?
Losing his whole family breaks Páez apart. He starts heavily relying on various drugs to get by, and Fabiana stays with him, taking care of him like a child.
Páez begins taking the people who come to see him for granted as he attempts to get intoxicated before a show. Fabiana calms him down and reminds him that he still has another family: his band. This helps Páez perform live on stage.
Unfortunately, Páez doesn’t stop taking drugs. He comes back to Fabiana, barely on his feet. Páez confesses that he doesn’t want to lose Fabiana. She assures him that she will always be there for him, but they can’t continue this relationship like this.
Does Páez revive his career?
Páez’s career goes downhill as well. His latest album doesn’t produce hits, forcing his label to drop him. Following that, Páez meets some people who have been inspired by his music.
They encourage Páez to get back into the world of music. Páez returns with new and fresh music and joins hands with a new producer, though they might not be able to promote his albums the way his previous albums were promoted.
Páez brings back his old friends on the album, including Charly and Fabiana. Eventually, he rises through the charts, and his former manager, Andres Gallo, realizes that he made a mistake by dropping Páez when he listens to his song on the radio.
Páez agrees to come back to Gallo if he says yes to all of his demands. Gallo and Paez later get a deal for a record with an unlimited budget.
On the personal side of things, Páez meets and falls in love with actress Cecilia Roth. Somewhere, Páez still misses his family, but his life finds a way again. Páez’s next album, El Amor Después del Amor, becomes the best-selling album in all of Argentine’s history.
Since then, he has recorded more than 20 internationally acclaimed albums and is among the most influential artists in Spanish-speaking popular music. His family is part of his songs. He has two children: Martin and Margarita. Cecilia and Fabiana, on the other hand, have continued to be a part of his life.
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