Awards
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Lady Gaga took to social media on Wednesday (Nov. 16) to react to her latest pair of Grammy nominations for “Hold My Hand” and the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack.
“I am so honored to be nominated for 2 Grammys for ‘Hold My Hand’ and the Top Gun: Maverick Soundtrack with my fellow composers,” the superstar wrote on Instagram alongside a black-and-white shot of the single’s cover art. “It’s a real dream to be included in this celebration of music with a song and musical theme so close to my heart thank you… I fully cried, this never gets old and I’m super humbled.”
Released ahead of the Top Gun sequel’s theatrical release, “Hold My Hand” is up for best song written for visual media at the 2023 ceremony while the soundtrack notched a nominated for best compilation soundtrack for visual media. The album peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Soundtracks chart, while Gaga’s single ultimately flew to No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart.
Mother Monster’s track was also recently nominated in the song – feature film category at the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards alongside Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stand Up” from Till and more.
Last month, Gaga wrapped up her Chromatica Ball world stadium tour with a stunning $112 million. Next, she’s set to portray Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in the upcoming movie musical Joker: Folie à Deux.
Read Gaga’s emotional reaction to her newest Grammy nominations below.
Bad Bunny made history on Tuesday (Nov. 15) when Un Verano Sin Ti became the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for the Grammy Award for album of the year.
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It was one of three nominations the Puerto Rican superstar scooped for his mega-successful set, and many had anticipated it. Perhaps less expected was Anitta’s nomination for best new artist, since the Brazilian star debuted almost a decade ago with a self-titled album that was followed by four other LPs.
However, the “Downtown” and “Me Gusta” singer has made a bigger impact in the American market, incorporating some English into her last two albums, 2019’s Kisses and 2022’s Version Of Me, as well as with songs like “Lobby” with Missy Elliott and “Envolver”, a Spanish-language hit that spent six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and 21 weeks on the Hot Latin Songs, where it peaked at No. 3.
“Wow! Wow wow wow… never in my life would I have imagined that this moment would come. I’m from Brazil guys… I mean… wow! Speechless,” Anitta tweeted in response to her nomination in a category considered the most coveted of the Grammys. “Thank you, thank you, thank you… forever grateful. Winning or losing this is the biggest achievement I could imagine.”
Wow! Wow Wow Wow… never in life I would imagine this moment coming. I’m from Brazil guys… I mean .. wow! Speechless. Thank you, thank you, thank you… grateful forever. Winning or losing this is the biggest achievement I could ever imagine. pic.twitter.com/XZaUSAeKaL— Anitta (@Anitta) November 15, 2022
Bad Bunny, who leads the Latin Grammys nominations with 10 nods this year, will also compete for the Grammy for best pop solo performance for “Moscow Mule” — alongside the likes of Adele (“Easy on Me”) and Harry Styles (“As It Was”) — as well as Best Música Urbana Album.
Another Latino up for the best new artist Grammy is Omar Apollo, a singer-songwriter of Mexican parents, who creates pop, alternative music and R&B. Apollo began his career uploading his songs to SoundCloud before releasing his first EP, Stereo, in 2018. Since then, he has since released the EP Friends in 2019, the mixtape Apolonio in 2020, and two productions in 2022: his first full-length album, Ivory, which spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at No. 128, and the EP Live at NPR’s Tiny Desk. His song “Evergreen” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in October, where it spent seven weeks and peaked at No. 51, as well as the Streaming Songs chart (four weeks, peak at No. 21).
“Got nominated for best new artist omg,” he shared on Twitter with a series of emoticons to show how he feels.
Rosalía was nominated for best Latin rock or alternative music album for Motomami, and also got a nod under the best music film category for Motomami (Rosalía TikTok Live Performance,) directed by Ferrán Echegaray, Rosalía Vila Tobella & Stillz.
AGUILERA, Christina Aguilera’s latest Spanish-language album, got two nominations: best Latin pop album, and best immersive audio album (an award to the engineers.)
Both Motomami and AGUILERA will compete Thursday (Nov. 17) for the album of the year Latin Grammy with Un Verano Sin Ti. (See the full list of nominees here)
Under the Grammy’s Latin music categories there are other such favorites as Camilo, Sebastián Yatra, Rauw Alejandro, Christian Nodal and Marco Antonio Solís, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year of 2022.
The nominees are:
Best Latin Pop Album:
AGUILERA, Christina Aguilera
Pasieros, Rubén Blades & Boca Livre
De Adentro Pa Afuera, Camilo
VIAJANTE, Fonseca
Dharma+, Sebastian Yatra
Best Musica Urbana Album:
TRAP CAKE, VOL. 2, Rauw Alexander
Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny
LEGENDADDY, Daddy Yankee
167, Farruko
The Love & Sex Tape, Maluma
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album:
El Alimento, Cimafunk
Tinta y Tiempo, Jorge Drexler
1940 Carmen, Mon Laferte
Alegoría, Gaby Moreno
Los Años Salvajes, Fito Páez
MOTOMAMI, Rosalía
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano):
Abeja Reina, Chiquis
Un Canto por México – El Musical, Natalia Lafourcade
La Reunión (Deluxe), Los Tigres Del Norte
EP #1 Forajido, Christian Nodal
Qué Ganas de Verte (Deluxe), Marco Antonio Solis
Best Tropical Latin Album:
Pa’llá Voy, Marc Anthony
Quiero Verte Feliz, La Santa Cecilia
Lado A Lado B, Víctor Manuelle
Legendario, Tito Nieves
lmágenes Latinas, Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Cumbiana II, Carlos Vives
For the Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy, the nominees are:
Fandango at the Wall In New York, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring The Congra Patria Son Jarocho Collective
Crisalida, Danilo Pérez with The Global Messengers
If You Will, Flora Purim
Rhythm & Soul, Arturo Sandoval
Music of the Americas, Miguel Zenón
Other jazz categories also have Latin nominees. Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for “Falling”, from her album 12 Stars, and Puerto Rican double bassist Eddie Gómez appears in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category for Center Stage, along with Steve Gadd, Ronnie Cuber & the WDR BigBand led by Michael Abene.
For Best Instrumental Composition, Cuban maestro Paquito D’Rivera is nominated for “African Tales”, Puerto Rican Miguel Zenón for “El País Invisible”, and Panamanian Danilo Pérez for “Fronteras (Borders) Suite: AI-Musafir Blues.”
As expected, Disney’s Encanto was also recognized, with nods for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s soundtrack and Germaine Franco’s original score. The movie’s mega-hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is also up for the award for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World.
In other areas, singer-songwriter Miguel, whose father is Mexican, shares a nod with Diplo for Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Don’t Forget My Love.” And Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band compete for Best Children’s Music Album for their EP Los Fabulosos, an upbeat bilingual effort that includes tracks like “Ridiculous” and “Me Gusta.” Up for Best Album Notes is Fernando González for his work for Astor Piazzolla’s The American Clave Recordings.
Gang of Youths’ third studio set Angel In Realtime wins triple j’s J Award for Australian album of the year.
The alternative rock act took the main prize at the national youth broadcaster’s annual J Awards, to beat out a list of LPs by the likes of Eliza & The Delusionals, Flume, Julia Jacklin, King Stingray, Meg Mac and others.
Angel In Realtime blasted to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in March, for their second leader.
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It’s the rockers’ first J Award win in three attempts. GoY’s debut album The Positions was shortlisted in 2015 (won by Courtney Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit); and again in 2017 with Go Farther In Lightness (won by A.B. Original’s Reclaim Australia).
“We’ve been nominated for this award before but for some reason this one feels super-meaningful because it’s about my dad,” frontman Dave Le’aupepe told triple j hosts Bryce & Ebony, adding he was “totally blown away.”
The multiple ARIA Award-winning band “spent years working on this project,” Le’aupepe explained ahead of its release. Along the way, the Sydney act “scrapped it three times, recorded in various studios both commercial and informal in London, New Zealand and Budapest, and hopefully, have managed to capture something vital and beautiful in the process.”
Now based in London, GoY returned to Australia in July and August for a national arena tour. Several U.K. concerts are locked-in for this month.
The result is a recording loaded with textures and ideas on “Indigenous heritage and identity, family, god, life, death, grief, sport, forgiveness, and the Angel Islington,” he continued.
Also at the J Awards, Kenyan-born, Adelaide-based creator Elsy Wameyo scooped the Unearthed artist of the year prize; rock legends Midnight Oil won Double J’s artist of the year award; and electric Korean-Australian hip-hop act 1300 snag Australian music video of the year for “Oldboy,” directed by Raghav Rampal.
The J Awards were launched in 2005 to coincide with triple j’s 30th anniversary celebrations. The flagship award is given to the LP considered by a panel as the most “outstanding achievement as an Australian musical work of art – for its creativity, innovation, musicianship and contribution to Australian music.”
The Latin Recording Academy hosted its inaugural “Best New Artist Showcase” Tuesday evening (Nov. 15) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, where this year’s 11 nominees were present.
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Each of the nominees — Angela Álvarez, Sofía Campos, Cande y Paulo, Clarissa, Silvana Estrada, Pol Granch, Nabález, Tiare, Vale, Yahritza y Su Esencia, and Nicole Zignago — had the opportunity to perform in front of industry leaders, VIPs, and special guests during the hour-long private event.
The up-and-coming talents represent different regions of the world such as Mexico, Brazil, and Peru, and ages ranging from 15 to 95 years old.
“We like to support and open spaces for new artists and what better opportunity than this for the mission to come to life?” Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, said in his opening remarks. “At the Latin Grammys, what we want is to open diverse and inclusive spaces to all the artists that we have the opportunity to help.”
The nominees really shined on a two-part stage, where they were presented by dearest artists who have supported their rising careers, such as English singer-songwriter and record producer Elvis Costello who presented Colombian twin sisters Vale, and Miami-based artists Periko & Jessi Leon who presented Venezuelan songstress Tiare, whom they also manage under their indie label PJ Records.
Tiare performs onstage at 2022 Best New Artist Showcase during the 23rd annual Latin Grammy Awards on November 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
David Becker/GI for The Latin Recording Academy
Musica popular artist Nabalez crooned the crowd with his 2020 debut single “La Correcta,” which happens to be a collab with Colombian pop group Morat; Silvana Estrada brought her authentic Mexican folk to Vegas with “Te Guardo;” and Angela Alvarez, the oldest-nominated artist for best new artist at 95, had all the attention on her when she powerfully sang a bolero dedicated to her country, Cuba, to name a few.
Meanwhile, Peruvian singer-songwriter Nicole Zignago kicked off the showcase with a rocking performance, while Spanish-French singer and actor Pol Granch closed the set after Alejandro Sanz presented him via a video message.
“You have been chosen among many proposals and this is the first step with which you begin to fulfill your dreams as musicians,” the evening hosts Jesse y Joy expressed.
The showcase, in partnership with MasterCard and produced by Ayleen Figueras, Nelson Albareda, and Loud and Live Entertainment, will evolve into a Latin American tour in 2023, to give fans a priceless night of new music.
The Latin Grammy Awards — which “promise to honor the legacy, celebrate the present and embrace the future of Latin music, with deliberate consciousness, paying-it-forward to the next generations of music creators,” according to a press statement — will be held Nov. 17 at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and will air live on Univision beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Nicole Zignago performs during the 2022 Best New Artist Showcase during the 23rd annual Latin Grammy Awards on November 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
David Becker/GI for The Latin Recording Academy
The Grammy nominations were just announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15) and already people are looking ahead to who might win when the 65th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. And not just who might win, but what it would mean in Grammy history.
Some potential winners would truly be groundbreaking:
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is vying to become the first Spanish-language album ever to win album of the year.
Adele is vying to become the first three-time winner for song of the year. She is nominated this year for co-writing “Easy on Me” with Greg Kurstin. She previously won for co-writing “Rolling in the Deep” with Paul Epworth and “Hello” with Kurstin.
Kendrick Lamar is vying to become the first male solo rapper to win album of the year. He is nominated for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The only other hip-hop artists to win album of the year (as lead artists) are Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998) and OutKast (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, 2003).
If Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous or Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers wins album of the year, it would set a new record as the album of the year winner with the most credited producers. A whopping 36 producers worked on Beyoncé’s album; 24 worked on the Blige and Lamar albums. The current record for the album of the year winner with the most credited producers is held by the multi-artist Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, with 16 producers. The current record for an individual artist’s album with the most credited producers is held by Celine Dion’s Falling Into You, which had 14 producers.
Here are more potential record-setters in the Big Four categories:
Summer Walker‘s name was noticeably absent when this year’s crop of Grammy nominations was announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15) and the R&B star took to social media to speak about it.
In a since-expired pair of Instagram Stories, the “Girls Need Love” singer wrote, “Thanks for all the overflowing love in my dm’s… & as for the grammys for a 2nd time, the math is literally not mathing… I was gone post some numbers but it’s ok, atleast the streets fuq with me. y’all always pack out every show & support everytime I drop so thanks for the love I do receive” with a pair of white heart emojis.
While Walker may have been disappointed her 2021 sophomore album Still Over It failed to earn any nods from the Recording Academy, she actually did, in fact, earn her first Grammy nomination this year for contributing to Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which is up for album of the year. (The singer co-wrote and provided guest vocals on album cut “Purple Hearts” with Ghostface Killah.)
Meanwhile, the R&B fields for the 2023 ceremony were crowded by the likes of Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, PJ Morton’s Watch the Sun and other work by Muni Long, Lucky Daye, Jazmine Sullivan and Robert Glasper.
In the last few months alone, Walker has released new collaborations with The Weeknd (“Best Friend [Remix]“), Ciara (“Better Thangs“) and Ari Lennox (“Queen Space“).
The 2023 Grammys will be held on Sunday, Feb. 5 at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. Check out the full list of nominees here.
kenzie is taking over the red carpet at the American Music Awards this Sunday, joining the Billboard News team as our on-camera host to chat with today’s top artists.
The 18-year-old pop star and Dance Moms alum announced the news in a selfie video shared to hers and Billboard‘s socials.
“Hey, guys! It’s Kenzie Ziegler. I have super exciting news,” she says in the announcement video. “I’m going to be chatting with all of your favorite artists at the AMAs this Sunday with Billboard, November 20th, so make sure to tune in!”
You can catch kenzie’s AMAs red carpet coverage on Billboard.com, as well as Billboard‘s Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube pages.
The 2022 AMAs, hosted by Wayne Brady, and the pre-show red carpet will take place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Bad Bunny leads this year’s list of nominations with eight nods. Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift follow closely with six nominations each. See the full list of nominations here. Lionel Richie will also take the stage to accept the Icon Award.
kenzie, meanwhile, has had a busy year. She released her steamy new single “100 Degrees” in October and is gearing up to drop her next song, “paper,” on Jan. 13. “I actually wrote this song about one of my friend’s breakups, not my personal one,” the star previously told Billboard News of “100 Degrees,” noting that her pal got broken up with on Christmas Eve. “I just wanted to shed light on how something can ruin everything for you during breakups. It’ll ruin seasons, restaurants you went to.”
“This is just an all-around new era for me,” she continued. “I’m so happy, I’m comfortable with my music and I’m trying new things.”
See her announcement below:
Adele and Beyoncé are headed for a rematch. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12, 2017, the two singers went head-to-head in four categories, including the Big Three (album, record and song of the year). Adele won all four of these contests.
In the nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15), Bey and Adele are again competing in each of the Big Three categories. Adele’s 30 is vying with Bey’s Renaissance for album of the year. Adele’s “Easy on Me” is competing with Bey’s “Break My Soul” for both record and song of the year.
This isn’t the first time two artists have competed multiple times for album of the year as lead artists. Two pairs of all-time greats went head-to-head for album of the year three times.
With the number of album of the year nominees having jumped from five to eight in 2018 and then from eight to 10 in 2021, we’ll likely see more such recurring matchups. But it will be hard to top the rivalry between Adele and Beyoncé, who are both world-class artists as well as, by all accounts, friends and mutual admirers.
In her 2017 acceptance speech for the final award of the night, album of the year, a highly emotional Adele all but handed the Grammy to Beyoncé, who was standing in the front row with her husband, Jay-Z, as the audience rose to its feet to celebrate Adele’s win. Adele’s speech stands as one of the most selfless and gracious in awards show history.
After some introductory thanks, Adele addressed the issue of competing with a friend and an artist she greatly admires. “I can’t possibly accept this award and I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé and this album to me – the Lemonade album – was so monumental.”
Addressing the singer directly, she continued: “Beyoncé, it was just so monumental and so well thought-out and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see, and we appreciate that. And all us artists here, we fu—ing adore you. You are our light. And the way that you make me and my friends feel – the way you make my Black friends feel – is empowering. And you make them stand up for themselves and I love you. I always have and I always will.”
Beyoncé didn’t go home empty-handed that night. She won two Grammys – best urban contemporary album for Lemonade and best music video for “Formation.” And she has won seven more Grammys since that night.
Take a look at all artists who have, as lead artists, competed against each other for album of the year two or more times. We start with the pairs who competed three times, followed by the pairs who vied twice.
Nickelback will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 Juno Awards. The show, which is Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys, will be held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on March 13. The band was formed in the town of Hanna, Alberta.
“Returning home to Alberta, where everything started for us, is truly a full circle, milestone moment for the band,” Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger said in a statement. “We take so much pride in our Canadian roots and are extremely humbled by this honour.”
Nickelback will perform on the show as part of the tribute. It will be their sixth performance on the Junos.
Since winning their first Juno in 2001 for best new group, Nickelback has amassed a total of 12 awards at the show. They won group of the year four times between 2002 and 2009; single of the year for “How You Remind Me” in 2002; album of the year for Dark Horse in 2009; and the Fan Choice award in both 2004 and 2009, among other awards.
Nickelback has a mixed track record at awards shows outside of their native Canada. They have yet to win a Grammy (despite six nods over the years, including record of the year for “How You Remind Me”). They have, however, won seven Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and one People’s Choice Award, among others.
Nickelback will debut their tenth studio album, Get Rollin’ on Nov. 18. The group’s last seven studio albums made the top 10 on the Billboard 200. They topped that chart with All the Right Reasons in 2005.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established by CARAS in 1978 to acknowledge artists who have made an outstanding contribution to Canadian music.
Previous Hall of Fame inductees include both solo artists (such as 2022 recipient Deborah Cox) and groups. Other pop and rock bands that have receive the honor include The Guess Who, The Band, Rush, Triumph, Loverboy, April Wine, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Barenaked Ladies and Cowboy Junkies.
Calgary, Alberta native and four-time Juno nominee Tate McRae will also perform at the show. McRae, 19, made the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “You Broke Me First
Manager and promoter Ron Sakamoto will be the recipient of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award. A longtime collaborator of Canadian superstar Shania Twain, Sakamoto has represented some of the biggest names in music, including The Guess Who, Bryan Adams, Bee Gees, KISS, and Keith Urban. Sakamoto will receive the honor at the 2023 Juno Opening Night Awards on March 11.
This will be the Juno Awards’ first time in Edmonton in 19 years. The show, produced by Insight Productions, will broadcast and stream live across Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and on CBC Music’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.
The Latin Recording Academy honored and celebrated this year’s Leading Latin Ladies during an intimate luncheon on Tuesday (Nov. 15) that officially kicked off Latin Grammys week.
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Hosted by Gloria “Goyo” Martínez, the emotional event offered a space for both women and men in the industry to applaud the contributions made by the honorees, which included singer-songwriter Kany García; pianist, arranger and musical director Janina Rosado; Amazon Music’s global head of Latin music Roció Guerrero; and Rosa Lagarrigue, CEO of artist management company RLM.
The nearly three-hour ceremony included moving speeches by the honorees who were presented with the award by their mentors, fellow recording artists or executives who’ve supported them along the way.
Rebeca Leon, who was part of the Leading Latin Ladies class of 2017, was the first to take the stage to present the award to Guerrero for her strides in Latin music and for pioneering the first-ever Latin playlist: Spotify’s Baila Reggaeton.
Other executives who took the stage were Afo Verde, chairman/CEO of Sony Music Latin-Iberia, who, along with Sony Music Latin Puerto Rico’s VP, Tuti Bou, presented García. “Kany is intelligent, talented, and I have the honor of working with her for a long time. She defends her flags, opens many roads, and gives voice to the voiceless,” he expressed. Meanwhile, merengue icon Milly Quezada introduced Rosado and Spanish artist Ana Torroja took the stage to present the award to her longtime manager Lagarrigue.
Launched in 2016, the Academy’s Leading Latin Ladies initiative was created to honor and recognize “professional and socially-conscious women within the arts and entertainment fields who have made significant contributions and inspired the next generation of female leaders,” according to the Academy.
Additionally, the Leading Ladies of Entertainment joined forces with She Is The Music for a second consecutive year on their collaborative “Leading Ladies Connect TogetHER” mentorship program, where a former honoree will be invited to mentor a She Is The Music mentee.
The 2022 Latin Grammy Awards ceremony is taking place Thursday (Nov. 17) live from the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The telecast will air on Univision at 8 p.m. ET, and it will also be available on HBO Max.
Below, check out five best moments from the luncheon:
Rocío Guerrero on her message to the next generation of female leaders: “This is a responsibility I don’t take lightly,” she started her speech. “To the new generations of girls and young women that will be our future: I hope you grow up understanding that anything is possible with hard work, risk taking, ambition and ethics. I mean each of those things. No matter what you look or sound like, you can do it. I hope you can see yourself in women like us. I hope we can be a reminder that there are no limits to your growth.”
Kany García on becoming her own role model: “Why am I shaking? It’s easier to sing than to do this speech,” the “Aguita e coco” singer joked. “Since I was little I’ve felt different and I’m not talking about that moment when you feel ‘special’ but when you feel like you don’t fit anywhere. They told me so many things about my voice, so many no’s accumulated that they made me a woman who was scared and filled with insecurities. I remember that little girl who never found a woman on television who represented her. A woman who didn’t have shake her hips or a woman who liked women but also liked wearing high heels, dresses and putting on makeup. Not the typical stereotype of the women in my community who is supposed to be the opposite of that. So, I had to become my own role model. I owe this to my younger self, who struggled so much to feel represented.”
Janina Rosado on not being mediocre: “I have to start by thanking God because He wanted me to be here and for me to be a musician and to be born into a family where music was our language. We only spoke about music,” Rosado, who’s produced for artists such as Juan Luis Guerra, said. “I come from a family that marked me. They gave me the confidence and my father would tell me, ‘You can do it. Don’t be mediocre. If you’re going to go to school and study, you can’t expect to pass by with mediocre grades. You have to put in all your effort to everything you do.” Which is what I have always done, and it’s gotten me here.”
Rosa Lagarrigue on being an optimist: “I’m so emotional,” said Lagarrigue, who’s managed the careers of artists like Alejandro Sanz and Miguel Bosé, to name a few. “After working in the music industry for 44 years, I feel so proud to be recognized. We’re still missing many women in relevant positions, but I’m an optimist. I want to especially point out the good relationships there are between us and a sort of complicity. We will achieve to fill in those positions. We should give opportunities to women, to diversity and young people.”