Luis Miguel’s Massive Tour Shows His Generational Success
Latin music dominates the charts and touring schedules year after year, and one name has continued to prevail for over four decades: Luis Miguel.
The singer, known as “El Sol de México,” put out his first song in 1982 at age 12 and has since released more than 20 albums, won six Grammy Awards and continuously expanded into additional genres. And he has yet to slow down. Over the past year or so, longtime fans along with newcomers have flocked to his concerts around the world, making his tour one of the highest-grossing yet.
Last year after he announced a 40-date run, tickets quickly sold out. The tour then expanded to over 100 performances. In March, his shows grossed over $92 million. In April, Miguel sold over 150,000 tickets, taking in more than $21 million, according to Pollstar data. The success pushed him to No. 3 on Bloomberg’s Pop Star Power Rankings.
“Why is this happening?” Henry Cárdenas, founder of Cárdenas Marketing Network, Miguel’s promoter, told Pollstar. “Because he’s an idol. People love him. The other thing is that he doesn’t go out every year, and people were hungry to see him.”
Miguel has consistently proved his ability to sell out tours. His last run, from 2018 to 2019, grossed $101.4 million and sold 965,000 tickets across 116 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Those figures made it the highest grossing Latin tour since the chart’s launch in 1990.
Though Bad Bunny has since surpassed his record, Miguel can still sell out arenas around the world. A Netflix series about his life has only stoked greater demand for his live performances.
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His look and sound often hark back to entertainers of decades past. He tours with a full band, always wears a suit and guides concertgoers through his extensive catalog, moving from genre to genre, while strumming an air guitar on stage, surrounded by his band and backup singers.
Online, his fan base is enormous and loyal. Over 18 million people listen to his music monthly on Spotify, and on YouTube his most popular tracks have accrued hundreds of millions of plays.
From track to track, Miguel’s music shows off his evolution as an artist. His top songs on Spotify include Ahora Te Puedes Marchar , a Spanish-language, pop spin on Dusty Springfield’s I Only Want to Be with You , which goes full ‘80s with a jazz saxophone riff. On YouTube, the song has over 700 million plays. Other ballads, like Hasta Que Me Olvides, serenade past lovers.
In 1993, Miguel teamed up with Frank Sinatra to release a version of Come Fly With Me on the crooner’s Duet II album. Sinatra later wrote Miguel a letter to congratulate him on receiving a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
“For years it’s been flattering to hear young singers talked about as the new Frank Sinatra,” he wrote. “It was even nicer when I heard of a young man in Mexico who was beyond comparison with anybody. When I met you in Mexico and actually heard your voice, I realized that you are a true original, a tremendous talent and not bad to look at either.”