In 2005, he signed with
Sony Music and began working on a self-titled album. That year he recorded "Y Si tu Supieras" for the feature film
Mar de Sueños. The song was nominated for
Best Original Song at the 2006
Diosas de Plata, an annual Mexican award ceremony hosted by the Mexican Film Journalism Association. While working on the album, Rivera worked in theater. In 2006, he starred in the musical
Besame Mucho, and the following year performed in
Orgasmos La Comedia. By 2008, at 22 years old, Rivera had become the world's youngest actor to play the male lead in
Beauty and the Beast, the first major Broadway-like production produced by
Disney in Mexico. Rivera starred in his fourth theater production,
Mamma Mia! in 2009. The project garnered him a nomination in the Best Co-Actor of the Year category by the Association of Journalists Theater. His second studio album,
Mexicano, was recorded in 2010 and like its predecessor, which includes hits like "Te me vas" and "No soy el aire," it was certified gold. The project was produced by Kiko Campos.
The Lion King In 2011, Rivera became the first Mexican actor to star in a Disney production outside of Mexico. Over the next two years, more than a million people saw Rivera in the role of Simba. He sold out approximately 700 shows at the
Lope de Vega Theater on the famous
Gran Via de
Madrid, and won Best New Actor at the 2012 Broadway World Spain Awards. In 2013, Rivera focused on his last Lion King production and the release of his third studio album,
El hubiera no existe. The album, which was certified gold in Mexico, was also released in Spain,
Argentina,
Venezuela, Central America and
Portugal.
El Hubiera No Existe El Hubiera No Existe marked the beginning of collaborations with
Mario Dom,
Franco De Vita,
Leonel García and Pablo Preciado. The album produced a hits including "Fascinación," "Solo Tú," "Gracias a ti," "El hubiera no existe," "Por ti," "Que fue de nuestra vida," a duet with De Vita, and "No deben marchitar" with
India Martinez. Rivera's world tour, the "El Hubiera No Existe Tour," produced 60 sold-out shows in cities including
Madrid, Barcelona,
Valencia, Buenos Aires and
Guadalajara.
2014– In 2014, Rivera participated as a judge in Spain's version of
The Voice. That same year he celebrated 10 years as an artist and released a live album,
Con Ustedes... Carlos Rivera En Vivo, recorded during his second performance at the
Teatro Metropólitan in Mexico City. In 2015, Rivera joined the Lion King cast again, in Mexico, where the project was the highest grossing in the country's history. Rivera performed in more than 300 shows from 2015 to 2016, and combined with Spain's production, he acted in over 1,000 theater shows, enjoyed by approximately 1.4 million guests. He is the only actor in the world to have starred in two original Disney productions of
The Lion King, and the only protagonist to record on two soundtracks, as well as participating in the lyric adaptation of the original songs for the Spanish version. In 2016, Rivera costarred in the telenovela
El hotel de los secretos, produced by
Televisa. In February, he released his fourth studio album,
Yo Creo, which debuted at number1 in AMPROFON's Top Sales Chart in Mexico and No. 1 on
iTunes’ General Chart in Spain. Rivera recorded a song for the Argentinian soap opera
Los ricos no piden permiso. Rivera has collaborated with artists including the late
Juan Gabriel,
Maluma,
Banda el Recodo,
Thalía,
José José, Pandora,
Reyli Barba,
Ana Torroja,
Marta Sánchez,
Franco De Vita,
Ana Carolina and
Daniel Boaventura (Brazil),
Paulo Gonzo (
Portugal),
Abel Pintos (
Argentina),
Laura Pausini (Italy) and
India Martínez (Spain). == Filmography ==