LUIS MIGUEL

Born: Luis Miguel Gallego Bastery; San Juan, Puerto Rico, 19 April 1970

Genre: Latin

Best-selling album since 1990: Romance (1991)

Hit songs since 1990: "Ayer," "No Sé, Tú," "Amarte Es Un Placer"

Luis Miguel oozes class, swagger, and charm whether he's belting out mariachi standards, seducing with an orchestral ballad, or indulging the old folks with a 1950s bolero. Born to the Spanish singer Luisito Rey and the Italian model Marcella Bastery, Luis Miguel grew up in Mexico City. After adolescence he had only a distant relationship with his parents, who divorced in 1986; his father died in 1992. Miguel recorded his first album, Un Sol, in 1982, becoming a popular child star with the bubble-gum hits "Tú y Yo" and "1 + 1 = 2 Enamorados."

In 1990, Luismi, as fans call him, made a fortuitous leap to bolero music, recording the nostalgia-filled Romance. The album was a gamble—he risked alienating young fans and seeming insincere to older listeners. But Latin music was ready for a revival of the bolero, a slow but rhythmic ballad form, framed by acoustic guitar, that enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s. Often the boleros were performed by trios that played guitars and sang in harmony. With producer Armando Manzanero, a legendary Mexican songwriter, Luismi made the boleros modern and upscale by bringing in an orchestral backdrop. His forceful, dramatic tenor breathed new life into the sentimental, poetic lyrics. Romance contains classic tracks such as "Contigo en la Distancia," originally recorded by the late Mexican singing and acting legend Pedro Infante, and new boleros such as "No Sé, Tú," written by Manzanero. The album sold more than 1 million copies in the United States alone.

During the 1990s, Miguel's releases alternated between bolero fare and Latin adult contemporary. In 1993 he returned with Aries, a pop album that featured the symphonic power ballad "Ayer." In a symbolic baton-passing and a rare performance in English, Luis Miguel sang with his hero Frank Sinatra on "Come Fly with Me" for Sinatra's 1994 Duets II. Some people saw more than a little Sinatra in Luis Miguel's cocky charisma, his ability to transcend teen-idol status, and his conservative tastes in music.

Like his previous efforts, Mis Romances (2001) displays Luis Miguel's perfectionism as a singer and producer. He is backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra throughout and virtuoso Cuban émigré trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on the energetic "La Ultima Noche." "Amor, Amor, Amor" is a brassy, uptempo Vegas-styled update of Julio Iglesias's 1970s hit.

With sales figures showing that fans were beginning to go into been-there-done-that mode with his series of similarly titled bolero tributes, Luis Miguel stood at a crossroads at the start of the new century. Most likely he still has the youth, popularity, and talent to make stylistic adjustments.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Romance (WEA Latina, 1991); Aries (WEA Latina, 1993); Segundo Romance (WEA Latina, 1994); Romances (WEA Latina, 1997); Amarte Es un Placer (WEA Latina, 1999); Mis Romances (WEA Latina, 2001).

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