WATCH: Carin León Globalizes Música Mexicana by Performing at the ‘The Tonight Show’

Carin León is continuing his efforts to globalize música mexicana. On Dec. 11, the Mexican singer-songwriter performed his hit “Primera Cita” live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. This marks the artist’s debut performance on the national late-night talk show. León joins a string of other música mexicana artists like Eslabon Armado, Gabito Ballesteros, and Peso Pluma, who have all performed on the same platform this year for the first time.

“@carinleonoficial makes his Tonight Show debut to perform “Primera Cita”! #FallonTonight,” the television show’s social media announced online.

The música mexicana artist performed while decked out in a matching tan-brown and black outfit paired with a black tejana hat. During the performance, he sang his romantic lyrics backed by a stellar live band. At a vocal break, he shouted out his hometown with pride, saying, “Arriba Mexico, arriba Hermosillo, Sonora.” At the end of the song, León added improvised croons, almost scat-like, which are the cherry on top of a passionate performance.

Fans are thrilled to see the Sonoran artist perform on The Tonight Show. An X user wrote: “Weeey felt really nice to see Carín León with Jimmy Fallon. 🙊🥹.” Another X user echoed the same sentiment: “Watching Carin Leon perform on Jimmy Fallon is wild #SiSePuede #sinmiedoalexito.” 

Other social media users are pointing out that he’s the first Mexican artist from Sonora, Hermosillo, to perform on the show. “#CarinLeón became the first solo Sonoran [artist] to be featured on #JimmyFallon’s famous show 👏🏻 😍.”

León recently won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Norteño Album with his last genre-bending album Colmillo De Leche. As far as new music goes, he released his newest collaboration “Alch Si” with Grupo Frontera and “Modo Insano” with Garena Free Fire. Next up, the “Ni Me Debes Ni Te Debo” singer is set to perform at the massive three-day outdoor country music festival Stagecoach next year.

Watch the full performance of “Primera Cita” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.