Luis Miguel

Luis Miguel

Essential Albums

  • México en la Piel (Edición Diamante)
    México en la Piel (Edición Diamante)

    The concept of a multifaceted star who can easily switch from pop balladry to rancheras backed by a mariachi ensemble is part of the very DNA of Mexican music—an art cultivated by such a wide array of singers as Alejandro Fernández, Pepe Aguilar, and Rocío Dúrcal. In November of 2004, Luis Miguel left aside the ballads and boleros that cemented his worldwide fame and released his first mariachi album. Every choice associated with this project was flawless, from the decision to produce it himself to enlisting Armando Manzanero as musical director and selecting the prestigious Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán to back him up. Whereas the albums in which LuisMi resurrected the bolero engaged in a total sonic reinvention of the genre, his incursion into mariachi territory anchored itself in a reverence for authentic roots. The songs on México en la Piel appear to float on a luscious cloud of strings, trumpets, and vocals—calibrated with a refined sense of restraint. His voice—always ready to emote passion and longing—takes a leading role on occasion, but also shares the spotlight with the lavish accompaniment at hand. At times, the album remains faithful to the rugged moods of traditional ranchera, like the somber spirit that colors the José Alfredo Jiménez gem “Un Mundo Raro.” “Paloma Querida”—also by José Alfredo—and “Échame a Mí la Culpa” shimmer with emotional revelation. But on “México en la Piel,” an award-winning composition from 1990, and “Sabes Una Cosa”—one of the collection’s catchiest tunes—the silky backing vocals evoke the immediacy of pop. The singer’s bolero journey had already demonstrated the seriousness with which he tackles genres that are foreign to him. México en la Piel was a huge commercial success, backed by a two-year-long tour. It was also an artistic triumph. A production of extraordinary subtlety, it is one of the most stunning mariachi albums of its era.

  • Nada Es Igual
    Nada Es Igual

    Miguel had already released 10 albums by the time he got to 1996’s Nada Es Igual, and that experience translates to a smoothness that coats every track here. Opener “Si Te Vas” finds him nearly rapping over nimble bass and quick drums, while “Como Es Posible Que a Mi Lado” shows that he’s just as comfortable tackling four-on-the-floor house. Yet it wouldn’t be a Miguel album without some slow jams, and where “Abrázame" rings with tearful violin, the title track explodes with big, emotional drums.

  • Segundo Romance
    Segundo Romance

    In 1934, Argentina’s Carlos Gardel released “El Día Que Me Quieras,” a heartfelt tango co-written by Alfredo Le Pera—which in turn was inspired by the 1919 poem of the same name by Mexico’s Amado Nervo—in which love heals wounds, dresses roses in intense colors, and makes the stars jealous. Sixty years later, in 1994, Luis Miguel presented his version of “El Día Que Me Quieras” as the first single from his 10th studio album, Segundo Romance. He was 24 years old and already among the most important singers in Latin America, and he showed it with this record of 11 classics, mainly boleros, which took on new life in his voice. Luis Miguel's incursion into boleros—a genre that he deeply enjoyed despite it not appearing much in his catalog—began with 1991's Romance. Segundo Romance was produced by Juan Carlos Calderón, Kiko Cibrian, and Armando Manzanero. Luis Miguel traveled through six decades to recreate cuts such as José Alfredo Jiménez’s “La Media Vuelta,” “Delirio” by Cuban singer César Portillo de la Luz, and “Historia de un Amor” by Panama's Carlos Eleta Almarán. Skillful arrangements of strings and wind instruments, together with the voice of El Sol de México, drive Segundo Romance, which dialogues with Latin standards to demonstrate its strength from a contemporary angle, with love as a thematic and creative force. Planned in Villa Mykonos in Acapulco—while Luis Miguel was mourning the death of his manager Hugo López, who prompted him to immerse himself in this adventure—and recorded at the Record Plant studios in Los Angeles, Segundo Romance won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album and went platinum around the world. It’s also a tribute to those great practitioners of the bolero from whom Luis Miguel received the torch to scale new heights at the end of the 20th century.

  • Aries
    Aries

    When Luis Miguel entered the studios of WEA Latina to record his ninth album in 1992, he did it with only one thing in mind: to make a different album, with songs that could move the masses. The year before, he had opened one of his most celebrated chapters, the first album of his successful bolero saga, 1991’s Romance, which could’ve become his comfort zone. However, his ambition led him to a project that could go further and, for the first time, explored his true tastes without any kind of limitation. Or, in other words, a project that was finally fun for him. Born in April 1970, Luis Miguel is, under the Western zodiac, an Aries. Looking among the songs that could title his new album, he considered that this self-produced record was made entirely on his own terms. Thus, Aries became his most ambitious project, taking almost a year to complete at the cost of more than $1.5 million. The mastermind in charge of materializing the ideas of El Sol was Kiko Cibrian, hired after a failed attempt to coincide with the vision that Bruce Swedien—known for his work with Quincy Jones, especially on Michael Jackson’s Thriller—had for the LP. That's how demanding the assignment was. Francisco Céspedes and Juan Luis Guerra wrote the ballads “Pensar en Ti” and “Hasta Que Me Olvides,” respectively, at LuisMi’s specific request. For “Qué Nivel de Mujer,” a reinterpretation in Spanish of “Attitude Dance” by Tower of Power, he personally sought out the Californian group to record the horn section in his version. Citing R&B, soul, and funk as influences, Luis Miguel featured songs such as “Suave” to generate a more ad hoc dance atmosphere for the decade. However, his escape was not complete, and he decided to include more confident ballads, which appear mixed in the tracklist along with Aries' more risky melodies. In that respect, it's an album that took him to the top and emancipated him but kept him in a constant limbo: venturing out and taking the reins of his own destiny, and at the same time being fearful of exposing his vulnerability. In the end, that's the complexity of an Aries: one who rides a convertible through Acapulco only to become a solitary hermit once he arrives at his mansion.

  • Busca una Mujer
    Busca una Mujer

    At 18, Luis Miguel released his sixth studio album, 1988’s Busca una Mujer. It’s a pivotal project in the Mexican singer’s discography, following the transition between adolescence and adulthood of an artist who had been a public figure from a very young age. With the spotlight on him, he cut off the long hair that had characterized the beginning of his career to adopt a more mature appearance. (This symbolic rite was even reenacted in the video for “La Incondicional,” one of the greatest hits from this album and his entire career.) In 1988, Spanish-language pop had a diverse landscape dotted by the synthesizers and drums that defined the decade, rock that stretched from Argentina to Spain, and big ballads. Recorded in Ibiza with producer Juan Carlos Calderón, Busca una Mujer takes it all in: the yacht rock in the title track, the sentimentality of “Fría Como el Viento,” and the forceful energy of “Separados.” In the ’90s, Luis Miguel would end up leaning towards the romantic ballad and boleros, but the beauty of Busca una Mujer lies in its open horizon and all the possibilities offered by that period and his burgeoning career. And songs such as “Por Favor, Señora” and “Soy un Perdedor” show that the melange of vulnerability, mischief, and longing for love was all there from the start.

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Singles & EPs

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About Luis Miguel

Luis Miguel is one of Latin music’s most powerful and versatile balladeers. Nicknamed “El Sol de México” or “The Sun of Mexico” for his golden pipes, the singer has made good use of his wide vocal range on sun-soaked pop ballads, heart-wrenching love songs, and uplifting mariachi tracks. Born Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri in 1970 Puerto Rico to a Spanish father and an Italian mother, the future crooner and his family relocated to Mexico when he was a young child. With the encouragement of his musician dad, the young prodigy scored a slot singing the classic huapango “La Malagueña” on national television, showcasing his uniquely silvery falsetto and incredible vocal control for an 11-year-old boy. Later that decade, Luis Miguel reignited listeners’ interest in a classic lovelorn crooning style, popularized by his romantic pop predecessors like José José, with 1988’s yearnful “La Incondicional.” Yet, other smash hits like the funky pop kiss-off “Ahora Te Puedes Marchar” proved his dance-floor dexterity. He reassumed the role of the leading Latin crooner and popularized boleros with the release of 1991’s Romance, which spent 32 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart—a rare feat at the time for a Spanish-language singer. In the 2000s, Luis Miguel went on to collaborate with Michael Jackson for the 9/11 tribute track "Todo Para Ti" and conquer regional Mexican music with subsequent albums like 2017’s ranchera-steeped ¡MÉXICO Por Siempre!.

HOMETOWN
San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
BORN
April 19, 1970
GENRE
Pop Latino

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