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Miguel has an upcoming album Viscera, coming out, and he’s certainly taking the title seriously. The definition of viscera is the bowels in the body or the “deep interior of something.” With that in mind, Miguel’s latest concert appearance showed his willingness to “go deep.”
During The Viscera Experience in Los Angeles to announce his upcoming release, Miguel, 37, did more than play music. He showed off his body modifications by not just revealing but actually hanging off two hooks that were implanted in his back.
Yes, hooks. Longtime fans were surprised, to say the least.
Miguel used two assistants to suspend him in the air while performing the song “Rope.” It contains lyrics like, “I’m hanging on to nothing / I’m hanging from the ceiling / Rope around my neck.” They hooked him onto a wire via hooks inserted in his back.
Fans, including Lena Waithe, Evan Ross and James Charles, watched him perform four songs in person, with additional fans watching online via livestream. Miguel, born Miguel Jontel Pimentel, hasn’t commented about the unusual concert performance except to post his bloody back and shirt to Instagram with the caption, “What is your relationship to pain? What is your relationship to change?”
Earlier this month, He told the Los Angeles Times that hanging on the hooks was a way to push himself personally and artistically.
“Initially, it was a bit of, ‘What is the most extreme way to push outside of what’s expected?’” he said. “How far can I go in demonstrating how far I’m willing to go for art, for conversation? I couldn’t have known how committed I was to the real purpose of this s— until I had hooks in my back.”
He added, “It was a scary and freeing experience and emotion to go through because it’s such a light switch. It has so much to do with pain. What does pain mean?”
Miguel’s ex-wife, Nazanin Mandi, filed for divorce in October 2022. The couple were married for just three years after dating since 2005.
It’s not Miguel’s first time trying to stretch the creative envelope. In 2013, an ill-advised stage jump led to him landing on a female fan. While those two were able to laugh it off, another fan sued him two years later, saying she was injured in the incident.
See how X, formerly known as Twitter, is reacting to Miguel’s stunt below.
