The Mexican singer talks about Latin Grammys and the launch of his song ‘100 Años’ with Maluma
BY MONICA TIRADO, VICTORIA PATERNINA HOLA USA
Aday before the biggest night in Latin music, Carlos Rivera faces one of the biggest challenges in his career: to cancel his participation as the host of the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards. This news comes after a member of his staff tested positive for COVID-19. The singer of ‘¿Cómo pagarte?’ is aware of the importance of protecting the health of all those involved in the awards and his team, and has decided to step aside.
This has not been easy for Rivera, because in an exclusive interview with HOLA! USA, he had shared his excitement of hosting the awards for the second time. Originally he was going to present with Ana Brenda Contreras and Yalitza Aparicio , in addition to performing with Natalia Jiménez in the tribute to Julio Iglesias .
For the native of Huamantla, Tlaxcala, presenting at the Latin Grammys represents a celebration of music and life and despite not being able to participate this year, we are sure that he will support his colleagues, as they make it an unforgettable night.
The startling news was announced through a press release earlier today. Rivera explained the reasons that led him to make the responsible decision not to participate. Although for the moment his COVID-19 results have been negative, he maintains that out of prudence he should, “let a few more days pass to know that I am not a risk factor for anyone.”
“This news fills me with sadness,” Carlos said. ”Unfortunately, someone on my team whom I work with very closely tested positive for COVID-19. We are being very responsible and although I tested negative, I can‘t put anyone at risk, especially my two hosts. I want to wish Victor Manuelle good luck, he will take my place as co-host and I’m sure he’ll do a great job.” The official statement from Carlos can be viewed below.
But it’s not all bad news, as Carlos has many reasons to smile and surprise his loyal fans. This Thursday, November 19 at 7pm ET, his new single, ‘100 Años’, will be released in collaboration with Maluma . The most surprising thing of all is that the collaboration is in the mariachi tradition!
See Carlos singing a little bit of ‘100 Años’ exclusively for HOLA! USA in the video below.
When you started in music, did you imagine that one day you would part of the Latin Grammys?
Never! And you know what? It was my turn just when I started my career 16 years ago, I had to come to some awards that were held in Los Angeles, the Latin Grammy. As a prize to the winners of The Academy, they brought us. And I remember being up behind the theater, because they gave us some places far back and with my companions with a sparkle in their eyes and an illusion of saying ‘one day we are going to be here, and one day I will have to come sing and some day come to win a prize God willing ’. But honestly, it never crossed my mind, that was something that I had not thought about and two years ago when they invited me, obviously when they told me, how to say ’no’ to the Academy? How to say ’no’ ’to Latin Grammy? I have also had to sing for a couple of years and this year I will do both, because I will also sing in the tribute to Julio Iglesias with Natalia Jiménez and I will also lead. When I go back, it reminds me of being in Los Angeles, in that theater as a simple spectator, dreaming of one day being on that stage … These are things that move you a lot, especially in a year like this one. I think we have all done as much an act of awareness, reassessment, of what is really important and I think it is time to give that weight to something like that, to something that started looking from afar and suddenly, being up there.
How does it feel to be an agent of change?
It is a responsibility, first of all and I receive it with a lot of love because recently, when the pandemic was just beginning, I had the opportunity to launch a song called ‘Ya Pasá’ and that we donated 100% to Save the Children, whatever is collected, is sent to the children of Mexico. And that song just talks about this, that we will start again stronger when all this ends. That is why being in this particular award ceremony, because, in addition being side by side with Yalitza – who is also a tireless fighter -, Ana Brenda, that each one of us has done something or tried to do something for our society, from our trenches, can unite us in a unique night, in which there are many people who are listening to us and bring that joy to them and leave that little message in their hearts and minds that only together will we be able to move forward.
How did music help you during the quarantine and these months of pandemic?
It has been my total refuge, being able to have something to listen to, something to sing about. In fact, I also put out a project called ‘If Outside Mine’, for the pure gain of wanting to sing because I was without concerts … I had to cancel almost 40 concerts of my tour in a lot of countries and that part that we artists do to sing out of necessity – and not out of financial necessity – but out of a need to express ourselves and what I wanted to do in this project If It Was Mine, was to sing songs that I like to sing at home, that I like to sing when I put on one playlist suddenly say ‘I want to share these songs to my audience’ with songs that I did not write, but as the title says that, If It Were Mine, I would sing it that way. With pure guitar and voice, I recorded seven songs that my audience already listens to on digital platforms today. So that was the way in which I unburdened myself from the confinement, being able to sing, having a project, being able to simply share and now it is also leading us to a collaboration that I am launching that also arose in the pandemic that will be launched this Thursday 19 of November, at the same time that Latin Grammys begins, at 7pm. My collaboration is nothing more and nothing less with Maluma in a ranchera song, how far did the desire to sing take us!
How does this collaboration with Maluma come about, of such different genres?
When we were at La Voz México, in 2018, we became very close friends, we shared many things that only in a program like one of those can. He told me that he loved rancheras and told me “one day I have to record a ranchera song.” Recently, in these months, he told me that he had an idea for a song that he wanted to record for a long time. He sent it to me and I said, ”Let me make some adjustments to the words.” I finished it and he said ‘let’s record it’. Literal, Edgar Barrera, who is the producer, put the mariachi in and recorded the song; he (Maluma) recorded it in Miami, I was here in Mexico, each one with his mariachi and well, this called ‘100 Años’ came out, out of the pure desire to sing as one does with the heart … which is more or less like ‘bring yourself a mariachi, bring some tequilas and let’s sing ’, that’s ‘100 Años’, we hope that the people who listen to it, will be as passionate as we are, will fall in love and that song will come back from party nights, from nights of the celebration of life. ‘100 Años’ is going to be of tequila, of love, of falling in love, so that they dedicate it to you or you want to dedicate it to someone else.
What plans are there for 2021?
We are preparing a double album plus DVD, let‘s say it will be triple. Hopefully this album will arrive by the end of the year and if not, it will be for the beginning of the next, but it is a movie; a documentary recorded in my War tour, the main concert that was at the Hipódromo de Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which has been the largest concert in my career, there were 20 thousand people and then – in addition to everything we did in Mexico — the National Auditoriums, the Monterrey Arena, many of the countries, including Viña del Mar, what happened with ‘Coco’ and ‘Remember Me’, all of this will be included. In this way we released the live album of the concert, plus the study album by Guerra with ‘Remind me’, with ‘Perdiendo la Cabeza’ (which is the song I released with Pedro Capó and Becky G), ‘Ya pasá’, which is the theme of Save the Children that we are raising money for them, and ‘100 Años’, which is this last collaboration with Maluma.
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