El Sol De México Brilla: Luis Miguel Makes Historic Return To Live

2024 Top 10 Worldwide Tours
No. 4 Luis Miguel
Gross: $261,521,187
Average Ticket Price: $140.83
Average Tickets Sold Per Show: 16,442
Total Tickets: 1,855,696
Average Gross: $2,314,346

For someone who isn’t cognizant of Latin pop culture and music, it may be hard to comprehend the influence that Luis Miguel, a Puerto Rican-born singer raised in Mexico, has over Spanish speakers. He’s a crooner singing ballads and pop hits from the ’80s and ’90s, a man not from this time yet he is, with fans of all generations flocking to stadiums and arenas to experience the enigma that is Luis Miguel.

The nostalgia that the 54-year-old singer evokes was powerful enough to vault him to No. 4 on Pollstar’s 2024 Year End Top 200 Worldwide Tours. Miguel, who is repped by WME, grossed a whopping $261.5 million off 113 shows.

How is it that a singer who hasn’t released any new music since 2017 made it to the top of the chart?  He’s a modern-day Frank Sinatra for Latinos who never lost his luster, mainly due to the fact that he rarely places himself in the spotlight. Even Sinatra himself was swayed by the Mexican singer’s charm and wrote a letter congratulating his buddy “Micki” in 1996 for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“For years it’s been flattering to hear young singers talked about as the new Frank Sinatra. It was even nicer when I heard of a young man in Mexico who was beyond comparison with anybody,” Sinatra wrote in the letter, which Miguel shared on his social media page last year. “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.”

Henry Cárdenas, CEO and founder of Latin music promoter Cárdenas Marketing Network, had an even simpler explanation as to why Miguel saw great success this year.

“Because he’s an idol. People love him,” Cárdenas told Pollstar in March. “The other thing is that he doesn’t go out every year, and people were hungry to see him.”

The numbers back his claim. Miguel hadn’t gone on the road since his “Mexico Por Siempre Tour” in 2019, and a pandemic that left many to their own devices only fueled the desire audiences already had to see the iconic singer.

“This is a unique artist,” Cárdenas said. “He is elegant, and people like to pay to see an elegant singer. He can be playing at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden or a soccer stadium, and he’s always dressed elegantly. He’s not on MTV, or radio stations every day doing interviews. It’s about his talent. How many Latinos have that voice and the hits?”

Not many, and fewer have the resolve to accomplish something even a seasoned veteran like Cárdenas hasn’t seen. Miguel had originally signed a 143-show deal with CMN but changed his mind after seeing tickets selling so quickly.

“He saw the response and said, ‘I want to do something that [no Latin artist] has done. I want to do 200 shows,’” Cárdenas says. “And I said let’s do it.”

For context, Luis Miguel was the only music act on Pollstar’s year end chart to perform more than 100 concerts between Nov. 16, 2023, and Nov. 13, 2024. The only other two on the list to reach triple digits in performances were comedians Nate Bargatze and Gabriel Iglesias.

Though Bad Bunny did set the then-touring record in 2022 by grossing $435 million in a calendar year, it was also done with back-to-back tours, including a stadium run. Miguel’s 16-month trek has surpassed $354 million, according to reports submitted to Pollstar’s Boxoffice, which likely makes it the most successful tour by a Latin artist.

It’s an outcome not even Cárdenas could have even imagined. The singer followed through and rarely postponed or canceled any concerts, and he’s set to wrap up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the tour began, on Dec. 17.

“He’s in the best stage of his life, and we hope we can bring him back in a couple more years,” Cárdenas said. “I’ve been in the business for 40 years, and I’ve never seen these numbers and that number of shows. I’ve never seen a performer do it the way he’s doing it right now.”