Rigo Rios: Latin Talent Buyer for Celebrity Theatre

By Ruben Hernandez

Rigo Rios loves the Latino culture and music industry, a passion that had led him to his current position of Latin Talent Buyer at the iconic Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

 His job is to contact the agents of big-name Latino acts, negotiate contracts, book the acts into dates and promote the acts to draw the biggest Latino audience possible.

 Latin Talent Buyer has been Rigo’s profession for about 15 years, starting with night clubs and then bigger venues, and in that time he has booked internationally famous Mexican talents such as the late Jennie Rivera, Gloria Trevi, Ramon Ayala, Joan Sebastian, Pepe Aguilar, and others.

 “It’s fun and I’ve been doing this was I was young,” Rigo told AZLatinos.com, mentioning this kind of gig has been his dream even while he was attending South Mountain High School in south Phoenix, where he grew up.

 After he graduated, he started buying acts, working his way up to Mr. Lucky’s venue in west Phoenix, and has been the talent buyer for the intimate Celebrity Theatre in the round for almost three years.

 “At first nobody wanted to let me buy the acts from the Mexican regional market,” he recalls. “They laughed at me at first.” But Mr. Lucky’s management decided to let Rigo bring in the bands, and the shows were successful enough that they keep him on as Latin Talent Buyer. The acts he brought in – Rivera, Trevi, Sebastian, etc. – earned him a reputation and credibility as a highly professional talent buyer. “It was those acts that made me known,” he adds.

 In the next few weeks, Rigo is bringing to Celebrity Theatre Larry Hernandez (July 13, a Mexican singer, composer and reality TV star on the Mun2 network, and MOLOTOV (Sept. 8), four-time Latin Grammy award-winning Mexican rock band from Mexico City. Their lyrics feature a mix of Spanish and English, rapped by all the group members.   

 Rigo is 32 years old (he was born on the 4^th of July), married, with two children: a 9-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son who plays the accordion and wants to be a professional singer.  

 Rigo’s advice for AZLatinos readers who would like a job in show biz such as Latin Talent Buyer is to never give up, always be persistent and determined.

 “It’s all about paying your dues,” he says. “No matter how many times they tell you no, if you don’t give up on it, eventually you’ll do it.