Artist POV: Celebrated Mexican Composer Napoleón Ready To Say ‘Hasta Luego’ To U.S. Fans

Goodbyes are never easy, especially after a storied career spanning five decades, but renowned singer-songwriter José María Napoleón is ready to say farewell and express his gratitude to U.S. fans in eight cities later this year.

His Live Nation-promoted “Tour De Despedida” (“Farewell Tour”) kicks off Oct. 23 at San Jose Civic in Northern California, followed by a show at YouTube Theater near Los Angeles, a city that holds a special place in his heart because his family has a history with the region and one of his best friends is from L.A.

“I have a lot of beautiful memories in this country that make me feel loved,” Napoleón told Pollstar in late April when his tour was announced. “For me, [L.A.] is a marvelous city. My dad, at a young age, went to the United States as a bracero. He showed me my first steps in learning the English language.”

The longtime singer also bids farewell to Texas fans in Houston, Hidalgo and Irving, as well as those in Rosemont, Illinois, and Phoenix. His brief run wraps up Nov. 15 at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego.

Napoleón last visited the U.S. in 2022, performing at venues such as McAllen, Texas’ McAllen Performing Arts Center, where he grossed $134,026 off 1,414 tickets sold, according to Pollstar Boxoffice.

“I have been singing about my life for 54 years, and it has been very beautiful,” Napoleón says. “It has been wonderful because the people allowed me to do it in a good way. I have always been a guy with character based on respect, on good principles to reach good endings.”

Napoleón, 76, has been exhibiting that humility and wisdom since breaking into the music business with his debut album El Grillo in 1970, and it probably has to do with the fact that unlike many other artists he’s often associated with from that time (like Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández and José José), music wasn’t his first passion. The Aguascalientes native always envisioned himself as a matador when bullfighting was a popular event across the country, but after participating in a singing competition, Napoleón’s intrigue toward music grew so much that he shifted his focus from the bullring to songwriting.

He was only 20 years old when he released his first album, but his career continued to grow amid Mexico’s balada movement of the ’70s with songs like “Pajarillo,” “Eres” and “30 Años,” emotional anthems of love, loss and longings full of life lessons. His songs have been sung by José José, Lupita D’Alessio and Spanish singer Placido Domingo, and they’ve stood the test of time with ensuing generations singing his music at the top of their lungs at live events.

“They did me the great favor of recording my songs and it began changing my life,” Napoleón says. “It brought me great joy, and though there are things that pain me to leave behind, I know that there are things like that that will accompany me until the last of my days. Whenever I suddenly get sad, I wonder, what feelings stay with the people who didn’t make it? How sad that must be. I’m thankful to God for allowing me to accomplish what I dreamed.”

He’s earned his moniker as “El Poeta de la Canción” (“The Song’s Poet”), and that was evident when he took the stage at OCESA’s Vive Latino festival earlier this year in Mexico City. Napoleón was joined by members of iconic Mexican rock bands Café Tacvba and Caifanes for a performance of “Vive,” an anthem encouraging one to “open your strong arms to life,” “try to be happy with what you got” and “live life intensely.”

It’s one of many messages Latin music fans have taken from his music, and he wants to continue spreading his positivity while he still can with his upcoming U.S. tour. Napoleón has seen his contemporaries continue to hit the road into their 80s to earn a living, and though he respects and admires artists who are still capable of doing so, Mexico’s poet wants to go out on his own terms while giving ticket-buyers a performance that they deserve, a journey through various decades of his storied career.

“Above all, the main concept is that I want to tell them in person the gratitude I feel for everyone,” Napoleón says. “It has been thanks to them that I have been able to make my songs known.”

He couldn’t help but throw in another nugget of wisdom when talking about the fact that people continue to celebrate his music today. He said that his fans are a reflection of his values and feelings, and that you must look at them in the way that they look at you, with love and appreciation.

“Life is like a ball that bounces up and down,” he says. “It bounces and bounces, and if the ball comes and I kick it against the wall with anger, it comes back to you [the same way]. You get along well with it, and no harm is done. … I always believed in the words of my father. He said, ‘Son, a good beginning always takes you to a great ending. And I have practiced that. I have known from experience that if you do it that way, you will always be able to get what you desire without hurting anyone.”