LuisMi, aka Luis Miguel
OK, so “El Sol de Mexico” isn’t, in fact, Mexican but the man has sold-out Estadio Azteca a whopping 154 times so, in our opinion, he is the Musical Mayor of Mexico. Having won his first Grammy at the age of 15, this protégée recently broke the all-time album sales record in Chile, was presented with a special award by Prince Felipe of Spain for being the best-selling foreign artist in his country’s history and even recorded a venerable Christmas album (It was nominated for a Latin Grammy!).
He has three Diamond albums, 304 Platinum albums and 34 Gold albums. His most recent album, Complices, peaked number one on Amazon.com’s best-selling albums two weeks before its release and this performing powerhouse played a record-breaking 123 shows during his Mexico En La Piel tour—the highest grossing tour in the history of Mexico.
Although his hair stylist never does him justice and he always poses with this slightly creepy snarl on his face, he single-handedly made the bolero popular again with a new generation of young women. His cover of the Michael Jackson’s “Blame it on the Boogie” is still one of our favorites; he has reinvented himself year after year and has now achieved the ultimate crooner status by performing sold-out shows in Vegas and releasing an album of duets with ‘Ol Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
So, for cutting his long hair and becoming a man, for being a child performer that didn’t go crazy, for being the first Latin artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for being a self-taught sommelier (he released his own Cabernet under the label “Unico. Luis Miguel”) and for always performing a great live show—we LOVE Luis Miguel.
María Félix, The Vamp of Mexican Cinema
Mexico’s foremost movie legend; a sophisticated femme fatale who was like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.
The woman who proclaimed that she “was not born to carry a basket,” refused to play second fiddle in Hollywood and instead became a star in Latin America and Europe. La Doña, as she came to be known, was famous for her fashion sense and glitzy image. She was dressed by Dior, Givenchy, YSL and Chanel. Hermès designed extravagant creations for her, and in 1968 she famously commissioned a completely articulated serpent diamond-encrusted necklace from Cartier made of platinum and white gold. Her personal jewelry collection alone was so fabulous that it is now displayed in museums around the world as part of The Art of Cartier Collection.
María Félix is an elegant icon who has probably influenced many of our mothers in some way or another, so for always representing strong, intelligent, beautiful women on screen, for reminding us of the golden era of Mexican cinema, for never ever revealing her date of birth (a fact that is still disputed to this day), for being the inspiration to songs by men such as Agustin Lara and Juan Gabriel—as well as art by such men as Diego Rivera and Leonor Fini—and for being the most glamorous Mexican woman to ever live—we LOVE Maria Felix
Honorable mention: Stephen Patrick Morrissey aka Morrissey
For famously proclaiming “I wish I was born Mexican,” Morrissey takes the title of “Honorary Mexican That We Love.” With his trembling falsetto voice, the maudlin, yet somehow hopeful and sweet imagery in Morrissey’s music is reminiscent of the sensitivity and vulnerability of Rancheras that touch Mexicans’ deep in their souls.
So, for having the sound and look (big belt buckle with pompadour hairdo and all) that is relevant to Mexicans on both sides of the border, we are christening Morrissey as an honorary Paisero in celebration of the El Bicentenario!