Background and career
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (pronounced [ˈlwis miˈɣel ɣaˈʝeɣo βaˈsteɾi]; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as "El Sol de México" ("The Sun of Mexico"). Luis Miguel has sung in multiple genres and styles, including pop songs, ballads, boleros, tangos, jazz, big band, and mariachi. He is also recognized as the only major Latin singer of his generation not to cross over to the Anglo market during the "Latin Explosion" in the 1990s. Despite recording in Spanish and Italian, Miguel continued to be the best-selling Latin artist in the 1990s and was credited for popularizing the bolero genre within the mainstream market. He has sold around 60 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Latin pop music, along with his personal life and showmanship on stage, has made Miguel popular for nearly his entire career, which started in Mexico in 1981. At the age of 14, he received his first Grammy for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" with Sheena Easton, making him one of the youngest Grammy-winning artists in music history. In 1991, the RIAA recognized the success of his 1991 album Romance as one of the best-selling Latin albums of all time. He was the first Latino artist to earn two platinum certifications for Spanish-language albums in the United States, for Romance and Segundo Romance (the latter earning him 35 platinum records throughout Central and South America). He is also recognized by Billboard as the artist with the most top-10 hits on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart. His album Cómplices was released in 2008, peaking at No. 10 on the mainstream Billboard 200; his most recent album, ¡México Por Siempre!, was released in 2017 and earned him his second number one on the Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart, achieving double-platinum status. Miguel is also known for his high-grossing, captivating live performances. He is the highest-grossing Latino touring artist since Boxscore began tracking touring data in 1990, with a total of $633.1 million, and 6.3 million spectators With the Luis Miguel Tour 2023–24, he visited 20 countries in North America, South America and Europe, where he performed in a year and a half span with a total of 194 shows all over the world, making it the highest-grossing tour ever made by a Latin artist. He also holds the record for the most consecutive presentations in the Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium) with a total of 30 consecutive concerts, as well as the record for the most presentations in the same venue with a total of 258 concerts. As of October 2020, Luis Miguel ranks number two on Billboard's Greatest of All-Time Latin Artists chart.
Luis Miguel was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to parents Luisito Rey and Marcella Basteri. During his childhood years, his father, who was also his manager, encouraged him to watch and analyze nearly every movie, recording, and concert performance of Elvis Presley. In 1982, he released his first album, Un Sol, by the Mexican branch of EMI Records, which won him his first gold disc at the age of 11. Two years later, he started touring Latin American countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina. With Un Sol, he scored a major hit with the single, "1+1=Dos Enamorados".
In 1984, Luis Miguel took on a Spanish pop rock style of music, with the international release of his fourth studio album Palabra de Honor produced by the then Spanish Hispavox director Honorio Herrero. In 1985, at age 15, he took part in the Sanremo Music Festival, where he won the second place award with his song "Noi Ragazzi Di Oggi". That same year, he was also presented with the "Antorcha de Plata" Award in the Viña del Mar Music Festival for his duet single "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" ("I Like You Just As You Are") with Scottish singer Sheena Easton. In 1983, he co-starred in the film Ya Nunca Más (released 1984) and in 1985, Fiebre de amor. In 1986, he took a brief hiatus as his relationship with his father was souring due to alleged mismanagement, poor financial decisions and risking the earnings of his career. Shortly after signing with Warner Records, in 1987, he fired his father and started to work with Juan Carlos Calderón. Luis Miguel's album Soy Como Quiero Ser in May 1987 sold well over 2.5 million records. The album featured Spanish-language adaptations of popular English-language songs, such as "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" and "Yo Que No Vivo Sin Ti".
On 25 November 1988, Luis Miguel's album Busca una Mujer was released. The first single "La Incondicional" became a top-ten hit throughout Latin America in the first half of 1989, and thanks in part to the music video, it spent over seven months on the top ten of many Latin American charts. The video was shocking to many fans as he had cut his signature long hair. This cemented his transition from a child star into an adult superstar. By the end of 1989, the second single "Fría Como el Viento" reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Tracks. He also had a top-ten single with "Separados" in early 1990, peaking at No. 8. In 1990, he continued his successful transition from child singer to adult showman with the album 20 Años and an ensuing string of sold-out shows first in Mexico then throughout Latin America and elsewhere in the world. 20 Años sold 600,000 copies in its first week of release and resulted in the release of three singles: "Tengo Todo Excepto A Ti", "Entrégate", and "Amante del amor", with the two former hitting number 1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks in 1990.
In 1991, Luis Miguel's career went to even greater heights and earned him the respect of a wider audience with the release of Romance, an album of romantic boleros, most from the 1950s. He has been credited with reinventing the bolero for modern audiences. The album Romance, which became his most successful material ever, eventually sold 7 million units worldwide. In 1993, Luis Miguel's ninth studio album, Aries, was released, which won him that year's Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album. That same year, Luis Miguel was invited by Frank Sinatra to join him on his Duets II album and to perform live in a nationally televised special in honor of Sinatra's 80th birthday, along with other stars such as Stevie Wonder and Natalie Cole.
In 1994, he released a sequel to Romance, Segundo Romance, featuring him as a convincing pop singer with mastery over timeless Latin classics such as "Solamente Una Vez" and "Historia de un Amor". The album earned Miguel another Grammy Award, as well as platinum status in the United States. In 1996, for his contribution to the recording industry, Luis Miguel received a star and was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at that time the youngest male singer to receive a star. Soon after, Luis Miguel returned to the studio and released Nada Es Igual, a pop album featuring "Sueña", the main theme for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
