2000–2006: Career beginnings Miguel signed a production deal with Drop Squad in 2000.
Young & Free. It was scheduled to be released on November 30, 2006, but was ultimately shelved. He later said in an interview for
LA Weekly, "We shot a video, and if you ever see it, you will laugh your ass off. I have a fitted hat on and a white T-shirt and baggy jeans. I was 19 years old and it was the first time anyone had ever given me money."
2007–2011: Signing and belated debut For nearly a year, Miguel's manager at the time submitted several songs to music mogul Mark Pitts; after receiving a song titled "Sure Thing"—which Miguel described as a "highly personal ... record that no one was ever supposed to hear"—Pitts scheduled a meeting with Miguel in October 2007. The following month, Miguel signed a
recording contract with
Jive Records. After being signed, he recorded his debut album
All I Want Is You, Consequently, his album was not released for two years. In 2007, Miguel also contributed vocals to three tracks on the debut collaborative project of
Blu and
Exile,
Below the Heavens, appearing under the moniker "Miguel Jontel". For the following three years, he contributed to Usher's
Here I Stand and
Raymond v. Raymond, as well as
Asher Roth's
Asleep in the Bread Aisle and
Musiq Soulchild's "
IfULeave". Miguel also released
Mischief: The Mixtape; he explained that the title referred to his attempt to "[tell] people that there is an alternative to getting sort of the same thing". It initially performed poorly, debuting at number 109 on the
Billboard 200 on 11,000 copies sold, The album's title track attained radio airplay, while Miguel toured as a supporting act for
Trey Songz and
Usher. It ultimately spent 45 weeks on the chart, and sold 404,000 copies in the US. The album debuted at number three on the
Billboard 200, selling 71,000 copies in its first week. As of February 2013,
Kaleidoscope Dream has sold 322,000 copies, according to
Nielsen SoundScan. In February 2013, he released a politically driven video for the song "Candles in the Sun". The album's
lead single "Adorn", which had been released on August 7, became a sleeper hit on urban radio. It was Miguel's second number-one single on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and his highest-charting single on the
Billboard Hot 100 at number 17. By September, the single had sold 190,000 copies. The second single "Do You..." was released on September 18, and reached number 32 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. On March 3, 2013, "How Many Drinks?" was released as its third single. By February 20,
Kaleidoscope Dream had charted for 20 weeks on the
Billboard 200 and sold 321,400 copies, according to
Nielsen SoundScan. In August 2013, the new single "
#Beautiful" with
Mariah Carey became Miguel's third million-seller in the US, following "Sure Thing" and "Adorn". During an energetic performance of "
Adorn" at the
Billboard Music Awards on May 19, Miguel failed in an attempt to leap across the stage, injuring two audience members in the process. Barely missing the stage, Miguel landed on two women, hooking his right leg over one and knocking the other into the stage. The incident, known as the "Miguel Leg Drop", became an immediate internet sensation and has been satirized in numerous
internet memes and
gifs. It has also been the subject of controversy, with the show's producers claiming that they had denied the singer permission to attempt the leap, while Miguel's representatives have countered that no objections were raised during earlier rehearsals.
2014–2023: Wildheart, War & Leisure and Te Lo Dije Miguel released his third studio album titled
Wildheart on June 30, 2015. In December 2014, Miguel released a 3-track EP entitled
NWA.HollywoodDreams.Coffee in promotion for the album. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category Best Urban Contemporary Album, also "
Coffee" was nominated for Best R&B Song. In 2016, Miguel released the single "Waves" that's been remixed by RAC and Tame Impala. Miguel played a Cuban-American gangster in
Ben Affleck's period crime drama
Live by Night, which was released on December 25, 2016, He covered
Beyoncé's "
Crazy in Love" for the theatrical trailers of
Fifty Shades Darker (2017). In September 2016, he was an opening act for
Sia's
Nostalgic for the Present Tour. The tour ran until November 6 that year. Miguel partnered with Revolve Impact and headlined the
Schools Not Prisons tour, along with other musicians, to spread awareness of
mass incarceration throughout California. His music video for "Now" was filmed in Adelanto, which is the location of California's largest immigration processing center,
Adelanto Detention Center. In an interview with
Rolling Stone, he expresses his advocacy on the corruption and abuse of the immigration system on detained immigrants, "to see innocent people being ripped from their way of life to essentially be incarcerated and used as cheap labor is really crazy to me." Miguel sang a duet of "Remember Me" with
Natalia Lafourcade on the soundtrack of Disney Pixar's movie
Coco, which debuted in theaters in the US on November 22, 2017. He also performed the song live at the Oscars in 2018. In January 2019,
Benny Blanco, Miguel, and
Calvin Harris released a music video for the song "I Found You", in tandem with the While They Wait campaign, an initiative by Brooklyn Defender Services,
Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and
American Civil Liberties Union which raises awareness about the challenges immigrants face while waiting for asylum. In an interview with The Breakfast Club Power 105:1 it was revealed Miguel was working on a Latin album. In April 2019, Miguel released the Spanish EP
Te Lo Dije. The EP peaked at number 11 on the
Top Latin Albums chart, becoming his first chart entry there. July 13, 2020 – Miguel began conversations with Twitter users on behalf of a GQ interview. He was asked when he would release a new album. Miguel personally replied physically on the social media platform and clarified verbally in the video to expect another, "project", by the end of the year. The term project may not be a sufficient exchange of a full release album. Or it may mean Miguel has begun collaborative performances with other Latin music artists again. In 2020, he was instrumental in the early stages of
Julia Lang setting up the fashion brand VEERT, expressly approving the brand. In April 2021, Miguel released his new EP
Art Dealer Chic 4 via ByStorm and RCA Records. In early 2023, his R&B hit "
Sure Thing" from the album
All I Want Is You went viral on TikTok leading to the song to enter several charts around the world, cracking the top 10 for the first time in the UK, and entering the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Girl With The Tattoo Enter" from the same album reached the Top 100 of Spotify US.
2024–present: Caos In November 2024, Miguel released the first single from his album, "Always Time". Later, in March 2025, he featured on the track "
Sweet Dreams" by
J-Hope of
BTS. Throughout September and October of 2025, he released 4 more singles, before releasing the album
Caos on October 23. == Artistry ==