SAN ANTONIO – Mateo Lopez, just 7 years old, is now the youngest mariachi singer on record, according to Guinness World Records.
“I got so happy,” Mateo said about the news. " I practiced a lot with my dad, I paid attention to what he was saying and we just went through the hard stuff then we did pretty good and that’s why I won the record.”
The family was flown out to Italy to record a performance on the Italian Guinness World Records show and was asked to keep the news to themselves until this past weekend, that’s when the announcement was made.
“Everyone was wondering why we were going to Italy, especially a little 7-year-old going to sing mariachi music, on the other side of the world,” Alberto Lopez, Father, said.
This is a new category for Guinness World Records. Mateo’s parents, Janelle and Alberto, documented all of his paid performances, starting at age 4, so on record, he was a paid-performing mariachi at the early age of four.
“I just like having fun with the music,” Mateo said.
This passion for mariachi music is something Mateo says is “in my blood.” His late grandfather was a mariachi and the Lopez family tells me that their son is following in his footsteps, but also allowing a new generation to embrace his Mexican culture while representing San Antonio on a global level.
“It’s overwhelming because we wouldn’t expect this, it’s not something that we world at and planned. Mateo sang at 4 years old, and when that video went viral people started reaching out.” Alberto said. “I just feel that I am grateful that we documented everything, everything he sang, the contracts, the checks that he was receiving, we documented all of it.”
Move forward to today, Mateo has been on “Mexico’s Got Talent,” NBC’s “Little Big Shots” and now the “Guinness World Record Italian show.” When asked if he gets nervous with all these performances he tells me “of course not, all I’ve got to do is think about my songs.”
Mateo is continuing to learn more instruments and he is exploring more about his culture, including speaking both English and Spanish.
“But the most important thing is to get out there and do the best I can,” he said.
If you would like to keep up with Mateo’s adventures, click here to keep up with him on Instagram.
“To me, that’s just a sign that people really believe in him and they love what they see in him,” Alberto said.