Billboard Latin Music Awards 2024

“Cali Pachanguero,” the iconic Colombian dance track that this year turned 40 years old, got a new look and sound with a thrilling rendition during the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Celebrating the four decades of the song that took Colombian salsa to the world, its creators, Grupo Niche, performed a contemporary rendition that nevertheless retained much of its signature arrangements.
Dressed in elegant yellow suits, the 15-piece band performed a rousing version of “Cali Pachanguero,” its singers dancing up and down the stage as they improvised in a tight performance that got the audience at the Billboard Latin Music Awards on its feet.

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“Cali Pachanguero” was conceived and written by the late Jairo Varela, the founder and leader of Grupo Niche, while touring in New York City in 1984. The song speaks nostalgically about Cali, the Southwestern Colombian city nestled in a valley and known for its beautiful women and love of salsa music. With its recognizable trumpet/trombone brass foundation and its fast-paced beats, the song put Colombian salsa on the global map.

Although Varela died in 2012, his band has lived on with a mix of new and older members and is now in the midst of its biggest tour ever, following a Grammy and Latin Grammy win. At the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the group demonstrated that, regardless of the passage of time, good music has lasting power.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards recognize the impact of Latin music on the global scene, being the only awards based directly on the performance of albums, songs and artists on Billboard‘s weekly charts. This year, awards will be presented in 49 categories, spanning the genres of Latin pop, tropical, Latin rhythm and regional Mexican.

Finalists, and the eventual winners, reflect performance of new recordings on Billboard’s albums and songs charts for the period covering rankings dated Aug. 19, 2023 through the September 7, 2024 charts. Determinations are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay and touring, tracked by Billboard and its data partner, Luminate.

Produced by Telemundo in collaboration with American Country Broadcast Inc., the awards can be seen on Telemundo, the Telemundo app, streaming service Peacock and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.

This year, the list of finalists is led by Karol G, who has 17 mentions in key categories such as Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year, and Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year. Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma follow closely behind with 15 mentions each. Other notable finalists include Feid, with 11 mentions, and regional Mexican stars Fuerza Regida and Junior H, both with 8 mentions, including Artist of the Year. See the full list of finalists here.

Alejandro Sanz was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards that aired on Sunday (Oct. 20) via Telemundo.
“Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to Billboard for the generosity of giving me this award, which means a lot to me,” Sanz, who was presented the award by Spanish pop artist Ana Mena, said during his acceptance speech. 

“I want to dedicate it of course to you, the comrades who make music. There was a time when making music in Spanish was not so easy… I’m not saying that it isn’t easy now, but I’m saying that you should enjoy it a lot, that you should feel proud of what has been achieved here through many generations, through many different genres. All genres have their moment, their place, they are all wonderful and they are all unique like us, like people. So I want to dedicate it to you too, especially to the people who make this possible, the people who listen to all of us. To the general public, to the people who listen to music,” he continued. 

The Spanish singer-songwriter also promoted his new single “Palmeras en el Jardín,” set to drop on Oct. 25 and part of his forthcoming album. “​​It’s one more reason to be happy. Music is what moves this heart that has been walking for so long. Long live music, long live life,” he noted. 

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Earlier in the week, during his Icon Superstar Q&A at Billboard Latin Music Week, Sanz shared an exclusive sneak peak of his upcoming song. 

“It’s a story of love and of wanting to change everything in your life so that someone feels comfortable,” he told Billboard’s Leila Cobo. “You thought you were doing a lot by planting palm trees but in the end it wasn’t enough and it turns out that you keep all the palm trees and she is left with her loneliness. That’s what the song is about.” 

Past recipients of the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award include Armando Manzanero, Intocable, José José, Los Ángeles Azules, Los Temerarios, Maná, Marco Antonio Solís, Miguel Bosé and Ricardo Arjona, among others.

Gloria Trevi and Maria Becerra unleashed a captivating showcase of female empowerment and a good dose of debauchery with their performance of “Borracha” at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Sunday (Oct. 20). The potent single — a meld of regional Mexican music, pop and subtle trap beats — highlighted both artists’ unique strengths […]