Mig Ayesa

Miguel Alfonso Ramon Legarda "MiG" Ayesa (born January 12, 1970) is an Australian rock vocalist.

Biography

Born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Sydney, Australia, and has three-fourths-Spanish maternal ancestry and fourth-Ilonggo paternal and maternal ancestries. He attended St Patrick's College, Strathfield. Ayesa was studying communications at Macquarie University in Sydney when he was offered the role of Ritchie Valens in the theater production of "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story." He decided to put his studies on hold and went on tour with the production all across Australia. He has since performed in theaters, commercials, television series and film. He has also been a part of several bands Randy Badass And The Slickmaster Five, Lovetown, The Honkies and The Riva Band.

Ayesa moved from Sydney to London in 2001 to look for a publishing company for his material. Brian May from the band Queen took an interest in his work and they are working on a collaboration with his band Mignition. Ayesa played the character of Galileo Figaro in the musical We Will Rock You, which is based entirely on Queen material. He also appeared in 'Rent' by Jonathan Larson on London's West End in 2002 playing the role of Angel.

Ayesa was a competitor of CBS television series Rock Star: INXS to be the new lead singer of INXS and was one of the final three contestants along with runner-up Marty Casey and winner J.D. Fortune. While MiG got off to a shaky start with his version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", he quickly recovered and became a front runner with versions of "Live and Let Die" and "Baby I love Your Way", MiG received third place.

Prior to Rock Star: INXS, Ayesa is also known for working in the role of the money-grubbing landlord, Joe, in the kids television show The Ferals on the ABC. He also had a bit part in the film Queen of the Damned as a vampire who was out to kill Lestat for spreading vampire secrets. He also played Danny Suko in "Grease".

Ayesa married dancer/actress Simone de la Rue in 2002.

Ayesa was involved in the Australasian tour of We Will Rock You, in which he reprises his West End role as Galileo Figaro. This hugely successful tour started in New Zealand in late 2007, continued to Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and finished up in Bangkok in July 2008.

Debut album

Ayesa's major label debut, the self-titled Album MiG, was set for release on Decca April 10th, 2007. This album has already been released in Australia and the Philippines. The CD is a collection of classic and contemporary rock and roll staples, showcasing Ayesa's interpretations of his favorite songs.

A single, Baby I Love Your Way, with Peter Frampton on Acoustic Guitar was released August 22, 2006, to Yahoo Music, and August 29th to other internet music sites. Exclusive to the U.S. and Canadian release are three original songs, written by Ayesa and (Matthew Wilder), "She Loved", "Could It Be" and "You And I".