Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer. Born to parents of Spanish and Italian descent, he is often referred to as El Sol de Mexico (The Sun of Mexico), derived from the nickname his mother gave him as a child: “Mi sol” (My sun). Luis Miguel has sung in multiple genres and styles, including pop songs, ballads, boleros, tangos, jazz, big band, and mariachi. Luis Miguel is also recognized as the only Latin singer of his generation to not cross over to the Anglo market during the “Latin Explosion” in the 1990s.

Despite recording only in Spanish, Luis Miguel continued to be the best-selling Latin artist in the 1990s, and was credited for popularizing the bolero genre within the mainstream market.[10] 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 Luis Miguel popular for nearly his entire career, which started in Mexico in 1981. Having won his first Grammy at age 14 for his duet “Me Gustas Tal Como Eres” (with Sheena Easton), he is the youngest male artist in music history to have received this accolade. In 1991, the RIAA recognized the success of his 1991 album Romance as one of the best-selling Spanish-language 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 No. 1 on the Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart, achieving double-platinum status.

Luis 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 $278.5 million. With the Luis Miguel Tour, which took place in 2010, he visited 22 countries in North America, South America and Europe, where he performed in a three-year span with a total of 223 shows all over the world, making it the longest and 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.

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 1982’s 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 at 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, such as “Cuando Calienta El Sol”, “Ahora Te Puedes Marchar”, and “Yo Que No Vivo Sin Ti”.

On 25 November 1988, Luis Miguel’s second 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 #8.

In 1990, he made a 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.