Ivan Cornejo Signs with Interscope Records

Ivan Cornejo is Inter-ing a new era…

The 19-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter, one of the young artists fueling Regional Mexican music’s resurgence, has signed with Interscope Records.

Ivan CornejoCornejo, a southern California native, was at the center of a major label bidding war after selling out his recently-announced Terapia Tour, which is set to hit cities like New York, Las Vegas and Houston, with additional dates in Mexico.

The trek kicked off in Chicago, and most recently included a stop at Lollapalooza.

“At Interscope we have always been attracted to artists who move culture, and Ivan has already proven he is on that path,” said John Janick, chairman and chief executive officer of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “He is absolutely one of the most exciting new artists in music and we are looking forward to working with him and his team on the next chapter of his incredible career.”

The multi-platinum-selling artist first gained recognition with his heart-aching viral ballad “Esta Dañada,” which launched Cornejo onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Cornejo recently released “Aquí Te Espero,” his first track in nearly seven months.

His last full-length record was the deluxe version of “Dañado,” released in December 2022 via Manzana Records. The album yielded such streaming favorites as “La Curiosidad” and “Perro Abandonado.”

“I am really excited to begin this new chapter of my career,” added Cornejo in a statement. “It’s been a long road even though my career is young and we have built a really strong foundation up until now. I am looking forward to working with John and Nir and the entire team at Interscope to continue to build and take my project to the next level.”

Ivan Cornejo to Launch First-Ever U.S. Tour in January

Ivan Cornejo is readying for his first-ever U.S. tour…

The 18-year-old Mexican American Regional Mexican singer-songwriter hitting the road in 2023, with a tour scheduled to kick off on January 31 in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Ivan Cornejo, Cornejo, who won best new artist at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards, will headline the 11-date stint, titled Dañado Tour. He is slated to perform in Latin markets like Los Angeles, Houston and Phoenix, before wrapping up in Dallas on February 17.

“I am super excited to go on my first tour,” Cornejo tells Billboard. “We made sure to put a lot of thought into all the details. We wanted intimate venues because now more than ever, the connection to the fans is super important.”

Richard Vega, the WME agent who signed Cornejo in all areas, adds, “We feel very proud to represent such a young rising star. His fans have been wanting to see him live for a while and the response from all our partners has been amazing. This will be the first of many.”

Being produced by local promoters was key to making this happen, points out Ximena Acosta, the strategy consultant on the project. “We went with local promoters in each market [because] we wanted to make sure we had the right partners who really understood him and his fan base,” Acosta says.

Cornejo, who broke out in 2021 with his first album, Alma Vacía, has been making a name for himself in the Mexican music space and beyond (he’s collaborated with urban act JhayCo).

He secured his first entrance on any Billboard chart with his debut album, released through Manzana Records, which arrived at No. 2 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart. On Top Latin Albums, the seven-track set, featuring sad sierreño anthems like “Está Dañada,” peaked at No. 7.

Additionally, Cornejo topped Billboard‘s Latin Songwriters chart dated October 30, 2021.

Subsequently, over the summer, the singer-songwriter scored his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums chart as his sophomore album, Dañado, debuted atop the chart dated June 18.

Tickets to Cornejo’s tour go on sale Monday (Nov. 7).

Here’s the complete list of his tour dates:
Jan. 31: Santa Clara, Calif. (The Catalyst)
Feb. 2: Los Angeles (Roxy Theater)
Feb. 3: Riverside, Calif. (Riverside Municipal Auditorium)
Feb. 4: Santa Ana, Calif. (Constellation Room)
Feb. 7: San Diego (VooDoo Room)
Feb. 8: Phoenix (Crescent Ballroom)
Feb. 11: El Paso, Texas (Lowbrow Palace)
Feb. 14: McAllen, Texas (Cine El Rey)
Feb. 15: Austin (Antone’s)
Feb. 16: Houston (HOB Bronze Peacock)
Feb. 17: Dallas (Cambridge Room)

Ivan Cornejo Scores First No. 1 on Regional Mexican Albums Chart with “Dañado”

Ivan Cornejo has a first No. 1… 

The 18-year-old Mexican American singer has secured his first chart-topper on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums chart as his sophomore album, Dañado, debuts atop the chart dated June 18.

Ivan Cornejo,The set concurrently starts at No. 4 on the Top Latin Albums chart.

The seven-track set arrives just eight months after Cornejo scored his first entry with the No. 2 debut and peaking album Alma Vacía (6,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week in the U.S., according to Luminate).

Dañado bests its predecessor with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the latest tracking week ending June 9. As with most releases by Regional Mexican newcomers, streaming provides most of the album’s opening sum. That equates to 11.9 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks.

The Regional Mexican Albums chart ranks the most popular regional Mexican albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, comprising album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

Cornejo gives Manzana Records its first No. 1 on any Billboard albums chart. Dañado is the Riverside, Calif.-born singer-songwriter’s second effort under Manzana, which was released June 2. Alma Vacía, his debut album, remained in the Regional Mexican Albums chart’s top 10 during its 35-week run.

Elsewhere, Dañado opens at No. 4 on the overall-Latin Top Latin Albums chart. It concurrently succeeds Alma Vacía, which reached No. 7 in October 2021. The set becomes just the fourth Regional Mexican album to debut in the ranking’s top 10 in 2022, behind Junior H’s Mi Vida En Un Cigarro 2 (No. 4, Feb. 26-dated tally), Yahritza y Su Esencia’s Obsessed (EP) (No. 7, May 7-dated ranking) and Eslabon Armado’s Nostalgia (No. 2, recap dated May 21).

Dañado grants Cornejo his second entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, starting at No. 149. It also bests Alma Vacía’s start (No. 156, Oct. 23). Cornejo becomes the fourth act to secure an entry there in 2022, trailing Junior H, Yahritza y Su Esencia and Eslabon Armado.

Dañado also becomes the eighth Spanish-language effort to debut on Billboard 200 this year. Here’s the scoreboard:

Debut/Peak Position, Title, Artist, Date
No. 39, Anniversary Trilogy, Bad Bunny, Jan. 15
No. 138, Mi Vida En Un Cigarro 2, Junior H, Feb. 26
No. 33, Motomami, Rosalía, April 2
No. 8, Legendaddy, Daddy Yankee, April 9
No. 173, Obsessed (EP), Yahritza y Su Esencia, May 7
No. 1, Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny, May 21
No. 5, Nostalgia, Eslabon Armado, May 21
No. 149, Dañado, Ivan Cornejo, June 18