Julión Álvarez: Why Mariachi Is ‘Sacred Ground’ for Him | Billboard News Interview

Julión Álvarez looks back on nearly 20 years of his career, major Billboard chart milestones, and what it means to still have fans showing up in a big way.

In this Billboard interview, Julión talks performing for nearly 100,000 people in two days in Jalisco, why big shows still make him nervous, and the respect that goes into making a ranchera album with mariachi.

He also opens up about his new album Ranchero de Corazón and why mariachi felt like “sacred ground,” the story behind “Lleva a la Luna,” the importance of family and how he balances “Julio” vs.

“Julión,” the obstacles he’s faced and how he stays calm through setbacks by focusing on what he can control, and relaunching his label while building a team to support more artists.

Julión Álvarez I have enough talk for about 10 wakes without coffee and without cookies.

Ingrid Fajardo That’s right.

It’s been a while since you talked with Billboard.

Julión Álvarez It’s been quite a while, yeah.

Ingrid Fajardo Really? Julión Álvarez Really.

A very, very long time.

I don’t know, I have no idea how many years.

Ingrid Fajardo Mmm.

I think a couple of years have passed, and I have some data here from the charts we have with you.

Obviously impressive.