Miguel to Give Los Angeles a Taste of His ‘Wildheart’

Stephanie Hernandez

Many know local star Miguel Jontel Pimentel, as simply Miguel. The R&B singer began his rise to fame in 2010 and has been steadily climbing the charts and into mainstream airwaves ever since. Now with the release of his third album “Wildheart” Miguel is primed to take over Los Angeles in a big way. Starting his multiple night run of the city at The Majestic Ventura Theater August 26, he then will move on to The Warner Grand Theatre September 2 and will be ending his reign with an intimate performance at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery September 4.

This Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer did not get to the top over night. Born in raised in the City of Angels, at a young age Miguel was introduced to old school R&B by his mother and funk, hip-hop and jazz by his father. By the age of five Miguel knew he wanted to be involved in the music industry in some way, starting off as a dancer, but by 13 he began pursuing a career as a singer more seriously, by 14 he was filling notebooks with song ideas and recording demos on a small four-track recorder he took from his uncle. By the time he was in high school, Miguel had versed himself on the recording industry and was seeking a record deal. Signing to Drop Squad in 2000, he quickly moved on to working with independent record label Black Ice in 2004 and began work on his debut studio album, “Young and Free.” The project was shelved but Miguel continued to record “All I Want Is You” with Jive Records instead, but was sued by Black Ice for breach of contract and thus the release was delayed for two years. In the meantime Miguel kept busy by contributing to other artist’s work, like Usher’s “Here I Stand” and “Raymond v. Raymond,” as well as Asher Roth’s “Asleep in the Bread Aisle.” Following the end of his contract with Black Ice, “All I Want Is You” was officially released in 2010, initially performing poorly due to being under promoted by Jive, who was amid being shut down. The album’s title track gained local airplay and picked up slack when Miguel began opening for Usher and Trey Songz that summer. The following two singles “Quickie” and “Sure Thing” performed well and after falling off the charts, the record re-entered and climbed the charts for 22 weeks reaching number 37.

Jive then officially shut down and was absorbed by RCA Records where Miguel began work on his sophomore album “Kaleidoscope Dream,” released in 2012 to huge critical acclaim. Debuting at number three on the billboard charts, it sold 71,000 copies in its first week. The momentum behind Miguel and the anticipation for his next record, “Wildheart” lived up to the hype. Now on an international tour Angelenos get to keep this hometown hero all to themselves for three nights, use them wisely.

Miguel will be performing in Los Angeles August 26 and September 2 and 4. Tickets available  here.