No matter which direction he has gone, Luis Miguel has found success.
The Puerto Rico-born Mexican began recording and touring internationally when he
was 10 years old. At the age of 15, he won a Grammy for a duet with Sheena
Easton.
Beginning when he was 16, he teamed up with composer-producer Juan Carlos
Calderon for eight gold and five platinum records. His style became popular on
the Latin charts, and during that period he became popular with U.S. audiences
and even more so in Spain.
Already one of the most successful Latin American artists of all time, Miguel became even more popular when he switched from pop to romantic crooning.
He sang “Barcelona Gold,” the theme song for the 1992 Summer Olympics. A couple
of years, later he made a guest appearance on an album by Frank Sinatra, and
even performed with Bruce Springsteen and “Old Blue Eyes” on the latter’s 80th
birthday.
In 2004, Miguel went in another direction, recording a collection of traditional
Mexican mariachi songs. At the time, it was his most successful, selling 100,000
units in Mexico in its first week. It also won him two Grammys. A monthlong run
in 2006 in Mexico City broke the country’s indoor moneymaking record. A tour of
Mexico and South America grossed more than $95 million.
He’s also a movie star and has his own line of Chilean wine.
So what has he done lately?
Miguel’s released the studio album “Complices” in May, his most successful album in the U.S., reaching No. 10 on the Billboard charts. “Complices” went to No. 1 in Mexico, Spain, Peru, Colombia and Chile, but nobody is perfect all the time, not even Miguel: “Complices” made it only to No. 2 in Argentina.
He began a tour in support of the album Sept. 3.
Miguel concludes the Harveys Outdoor Concert Series with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7. Tickets are $39.50, $65, $89.50 and $125.
Miguel will be the first Latin singing artist to perform in the seven-year history of the Harveys-Harrah’s summer outdoor series.
Outdoor concert series sets attendance mark
Those bombs that went off during last Saturday’s Kiss show represented more than
outlandish rock ’n’ roll theater: It also was symbolic of exploding attendance
records for the outdoor concert series.
Each of the first 10 shows at Harveys Outdoor Arena has drawn more than 5,000 spectators.
“Attendance was good all year, and some of the shows did real when you consider the national economy,” said John Packer, the director of entertainment for Harveys and Harrah’s. “I understand some of the shows in Northern California have not done as well. That tells me people like seeing shows here. The Lake Tahoe series has really caught on with fans and with entertainers who contact us saying they really want to play in Tahoe.”
The tripleheader of Journey, Cheap Trick and Heart was the best-attended, with 7,300. James Taylor drew 6,900, Toby Keith was 6,400, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 5,900, and there were 5,800 for Kiss.
The outdoor series resumed seven years ago after Harveys Casino Resort merged with Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.
Latin superstar Luis Miguel concludes the concert series on Sunday, Sept. 7.
