Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation has joined forces with Warner Music Latina for a 2025 scholarship that will be good toward a bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music, Billboard can announce.
The four-year Prodigy Scholarship, which will cover tuition and room and board for the 2025 fall semester, as well as wrap-around services provided by the foundation, marks the first time a Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation scholarship has been sponsored by a record label.
“This partnership embodies one of our core values: to cultivate intellectual and artistic potential by removing barriers that often impede exceptional musicians from realizing their vision,” said Alejandro Duque, president of Warner Music Latin America, in a statement. “Through strategic educational support we’re not just investing in individual careers, but in the broader cultural landscape of musical innovation.”
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Roberto Andrade, MD at Warner Music Latina, added: “At Warner Music Latina, we’re proud to support young talent through this scholarship. By empowering aspiring musicians, we’re investing in the voices that will shape tomorrow’s soundtrack. This is more than an opportunity — it’s a commitment to creativity, talent and the future of music.”
In addition to the Prodigy Scholarship, three other scholarships — from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the Gil Family Foundation and Gibson Gives — will be available for music students between the ages of 17 and 25 with financial limitations who have a passion for Latin music.
“The support of our donors makes the fulfillment of our mission to provide educational opportunities that advance Latin music and its heritage a reality,” added Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza, executive director at the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. “We are grateful to Warner Music Latina, Frost School of Music, Gibson Gives and the Gil Family Foundation for hosting these scholarships, providing opportunities to aspiring Latin music creators in need of financial aid to pursue their dreams.”
Applications for all of the scholarships will be open between now and 11:59 p.m. ET on April 10, 2025. For more information and to apply, click here.
A who’s who of tropical music royalty, including Ivy Queen, Tito Nieves, Aymee Nuviola, Albita and Gente de Zona performed for nearly three hours as part of the Latin Grammy Foundation’s fundraiser honoring the legacy of Celia Cruz.
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The private event, which took place Saturday (Dec. 14) at the Miami-area home of Loud and Live founder/CEO Nelson Albareda and his wife, Elena Albareda, not only played tribute to the late “Queen” of salsa and tropical music, but raised money for the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation, with all proceeds going to the foundation’s scholarship, grant and educational programs for young musicians.
Backed by the Celia Cruz All-Stars as house band, one star after another got on the outdoor stage to perform songs popularized by Cruz during her prolific career. Albita opened the evening with a rendition of “Que le den candela,” where she improvised at length about Cruz; Gente De Zona stepped into the audience to sing “La Negra Tiene Tumbao;” Aymee Nuviola jammed to “Bemba Colorá;” young guns Christian Alicea and Peter Nieto performed a dazzling duet version of “Toro Mata;” and reggaetón queen Ivy Queen and pianist Arthur Hanlon turned Cruz’s farewell anthem “Yo Viviré” into a funk/Latin improvisational party.
Other performers included Spanish singer Beatriz Luengo, Nicaraguan singer Luis Enrique, Jorge Alberto El Canario, Tito Nieves, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lenier, Lena Bruke, Brenda Navarrete, Carmen de León and dancer Siury. Many punctuated their performances with personal recollections of Cruz and the big and small ways she touched so many people’s lives.
“Celia Cruz was a cornerstone of the soundtrack of my life,” said Albareda, who as a teen worked at the offices of RMM, where Cruz was signed. It was there that he met a young Omer Pardillo, who worked in marketing, and who would become Cruz’s manager. Cruz would leave him in charge of her estate after her death in 2003 at 77 years old.
As the steward of Cruz’s legacy, Pardillo is steering the many events and celebrations that surrounding the centennial of Cruz’s birth in 2025. This year’s preludes included the launch of an official Celia Cruz quarter and Saturday’s concert, which also celebrated the creation of the Celia Cruz Legacy Scholarship, benefitting the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation.
To date, the foundation has given out more than $10 million to different programs and provided 427 students with scholarships. Some of those students performed on Saturday night as part of an impressive all-student group.
Beyond the performances, the evening was full of poignant moments, including a recollection by host Enrique Santos, who serves as president/CCO of iHeart Latino, that illustrated both Cruz’s spirit and joie de vivre. A Miami downpour, Santos said, shut down an outdoor music festival where Cruz was slated to perform. When organizers came backstage to tell her it was ok to cancel because the stage was wet and muddy, Cruz was unfazed. “Are there still people out there in the audience?” she asked. “In that case, I’m performing,” she said firmly, and went onstage.
Nominations for the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards were announced Tuesday (Sept. 17) with Mexican hitmaker Edgar Barrera leading the pack for a second consecutive year. Barrera, who has nine nominations (including songwriter of the year and producer of the year), is followed by eight-time nominees Karol G and Bad Bunny. The former is up for […]
Today (Apr. 17), the Latin Grammys announced their return to Miami to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the award show, set to take place Thursday, Nov. 14.
It’s the second big announcement by the Latin Academy in the past few weeks. In late March, the Academy announced it was adding new categories to the awards: best contemporary Mexican music album and best Latin electronic music performance.
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Addition of the best contemporary Mexican music album in particular was heralded by many as a positive reaction to longstanding criticism that the Latin Grammys don’t fairly represent regional Mexican artists and music, particularly in the “Big Four” categories: album, record and song of the year and best new artist.
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The new category also highlights how the Academy can respond swiftly to changes in the market. In the past 12 months, regional Mexican music (or Música Mexicana), as many use to refer to the many genres of Mexican music, has flooded the Billboard charts (including the Hot 100). Much of the activity has come from particularly new and often very young artists, whose brand of music reflects a more “contemporary” artistic and personal outlook.
The Academy made another major change, stating that if a category does not get enough entries, its status can change. This brings the Latin Grammys in line with the regular Grammys, which has long had such a rule.
In order to have the standard five nominees, each category needs at least 40 distinct artist entries. “If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year,” the rules now read. “Should there be fewer than 25 entries in a category, that category will immediately go on hiatus for the current year and entries will be screened into the next most logical category. If a category receives fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years, the category will be discontinued, and submissions will be entered in the next most appropriate category.”
That change, buried underneath news of the new categories, is actually crucial, as it ensures competitiveness for the entire field of nominees. With that in mind, here are three other arenas where the Latin Academy would benefit from additional change.
1. Reduce the number of nominations in the “Big Four” categories.
In 2012, the Latin Grammys bumped the number of nominees in each of their Big Four categories from five to 10. We see little value in this increase. The result is a bloated list of nominees that often reads like a list of trying to please everyone, which effectively dilutes the merits of the big nominees. The Latin Grammys’ jump from five to 10 was emulated by the Recording Academy in 2022, when it also raised the number of Big Four nominees from eight to 10 (the categories only had five nominees up until 2017). That experiment lasted all of two years: In 2023, the Academy announced it was going back to eight nominees in each of the big categories — still way too much, but better than the 10 that make our eyes glaze over at the Latin Grammys.
2. How about those nominating committees?
In 2021, the Grammys eliminated their controversial nominations review committees, leaving them in place only for “craft” categories that require special know-how (think categories like best music film or best engineered album).
But the Latin Grammys have not eliminated the vast majority of its committees, leaving the fate of many nominations in the hands of a select few. The Latin Academy’s website states that “in craft and other specialized categories, final nominations are determined by national nomination review committees comprised of voting members in the U.S. and International.” If the criteria for a nomination committee is “specialization,” why are there still committees deciding the fate of the Big Four categories?
With very limited exceptions (i.e. very specific categories like flamenco or vallenato), the rank and file of voters should decide who final nominees are.
3. Change the requirements for best classical music album category.
Classical music is universal, with the same repertoire performed by accomplished musicians around the globe. And yet, the requirements for this category state: “For the Latin Recording Academy, Classical Music albums are those in which participants are predominantly Latino composers, directors or performers in any of its forms: composition, performance, direction.” The Academy should modify this description by dropping the requirement that performers or directors be predominantly Latino, and instead focus on the importance of the composition itself as of Iber-American origin.
Narrowing this award to artists of Latin origin, regardless of the repertoire, dilutes the importance of both the award and its recipients. Latin artists should compete on equal footing — as, for example, Gustavo Dudamel, the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has successfully done in the Grammy awards.
In a bid to stay attuned to an ever-evolving musical landscape, the Latin Recording Academy has announced two new categories: best contemporary Mexican music album and best Latin electronic music performance. After criticism arose in 2023 for a lack of representation for regional Mexican artists, especially within the top four categories, the Latin Academy is […]
The 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards promises to be an unmissable celebration. This year’s ceremony will be the first to be held internationally, taking place at the Conference and Exhibition Centre, broadcasted from FIBES in Seville, Spain on Thursday (Nov. 16).
Sebastián Yatra, Roselyn Sánchez, Danna Paola, and Paz Vega will take on hosting duties for the event, featuring nominations spanning from Karol G to Shakira and Edgar Barrera (for full list of nominees, click here). The Latin Grammys will unite some of the most prominent figures in Latin music, celebrating their achievements and hits from the past year.
The telecast will air on Univision, UniMás, and Galavisión in the U.S. at 4:30 p.m. ET. In Spain, the broadcast on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) begins at 10:30 p.m. CET.
Discover who is performing, presenting and hosting the 2023 Latin Grammys, as well as how to watch below.
Performers
The following artists are among those who are confirmed to take center stage at the 2023 Latin Grammy Award Show:
Andrea Bocelli
Alejandro Sanz
Bizarrap
Borja
Camilo
Carin León
Christian Nodal
David Guetta
DJ Premier
Édgar Barrera
Eslabón Armado
Feid
GALE
Iza
Joaquina
Juanes
Kany García
Laura Pausini
Leon Leiden
Maluma
Manuel Carrasco
Maria Becerra
Milo J
Natascha Falcão
Ozuna
Pablo Alborán
Paola Guanche
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Rosalía
Sebastián Yatra
Shakira
Presenters
Anitta
Carlos Ponce
Carlos Vives
John Leguizamo
Jorge Drexler
Luis Figueroa
Fonseca
Majo Aguilar
Mon Laferte
Natalia Lafourcade
Nicki Nicole
Pedro Capó
Tiago Iorc
Yandel
Hosts
Danna Paola
Paz Vega
Roselyn Sánchez
Sebastián Yatra
Person of the Year
Laura Pausini
“Laura Pausini is one of the most talented and beloved artists of her generation whose commitment to advocacy and equal rights is exemplary,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy. “Throughout her more than three-decade career her extraordinary voice continually breaks down barriers across languages and genres, creating a special bond with audiences around the world.”
Pausini will be celebrated at a special star-studded gala and tribute concert, where an array of artist and friends will perform renditions of her renowned repertoire.
How to Watch
Viewers have the option to catch the Latin Grammys on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S. at 4:30 p.m. ET. In Spain, the broadcast on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) begins at 10:30 p.m. CET.
The ceremony will be televised on TNT at 7:30 p.m. in Mexico, 8:30 p.m. in Panama and Colombia, 9:30 p.m. in Venezuela, and 10:30 p.m. in Argentina and Chile.
The global reach of the event extends to over 80 countries, so be sure to check with your local broadcasters for additional airing details.
The 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards promises to be an unmissable celebration. This year’s ceremony will be the first to be held internationally, taking place at the Conference and Exhibition Centre, broadcasted from FIBES in Seville, Spain on Thursday (Nov. 16).
Sebastián Yatra, Roselyn Sánchez, Danna Paola, and Paz Vega will take on hosting duties for the event, featuring nominations spanning from Karol G to Shakira and Edgar Barrera (for full list of nominees, click here). The Latin Grammys will unite some of the most prominent figures in Latin music, celebrating their achievements and hits from the past year.
The telecast will air on Univision, UniMás, and Galavisión in the U.S. at 4:30 p.m. ET. In Spain, the broadcast on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) begins at 10:30 p.m. CET.
Discover who is performing, presenting and hosting the 2023 Latin Grammys, as well as how to watch below.
Performers
The following artists are among those who are confirmed to take center stage at the 2023 Latin Grammy Award Show:
Andrea Bocelli
Alejandro Sanz
Bizarrap
Borja
Camilo
Carin León
Christian Nodal
David Guetta
DJ Premier
Édgar Barrera
Eslabón Armado
Feid
GALE
Iza
Joaquina
Juanes
Kany García
Laura Pausini
Leon Leiden
Maluma
Manuel Carrasco
Maria Becerra
Milo J
Natascha Falcão
Ozuna
Pablo Alborán
Paola Guanche
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Rosalía
Sebastián Yatra
Shakira
Presenters
Anitta
Carlos Ponce
Carlos Vives
John Leguizamo
Jorge Drexler
Luis Figueroa
Fonseca
Majo Aguilar
Mon Laferte
Natalia Lafourcade
Nicki Nicole
Pedro Capó
Tiago Iorc
Yandel
Hosts
Danna Paola
Paz Vega
Roselyn Sánchez
Sebastián Yatra
Person of the Year
Laura Pausini
“Laura Pausini is one of the most talented and beloved artists of her generation whose commitment to advocacy and equal rights is exemplary,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy. “Throughout her more than three-decade career her extraordinary voice continually breaks down barriers across languages and genres, creating a special bond with audiences around the world.”
Pausini will be celebrated at a special star-studded gala and tribute concert, where an array of artist and friends will perform renditions of her renowned repertoire.
How to Watch
Viewers have the option to catch the Latin Grammys on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S. at 4:30 p.m. ET. In Spain, the broadcast on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) begins at 10:30 p.m. CET.
The ceremony will be televised on TNT at 7:30 p.m. in Mexico, 8:30 p.m. in Panama and Colombia, 9:30 p.m. in Venezuela, and 10:30 p.m. in Argentina and Chile.
The global reach of the event extends to over 80 countries, so be sure to check with your local broadcasters for additional airing details.
The 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards Week commenced its festivities in Seville, Spain on Sunday (Nov. 12) with the Special Awards presentation. The honorees of the evening included esteemed figures such as Carmen Linares, Mijares, Arturo Sandoval, Simone, Soda Stereo, Ana Torroja, Alex Acuña, Gustavo Santaolalla, and Wisón Torres, all recognized for their outstanding contributions to the Latin music landscape.
“We are extremely honored for the opportunity to recognize these great figures of Ibero-America, whose musical legacy continues to inspire new generations,” Latin Recording Academy CEO Manuel Abud said of the 2023 honorees.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is granted to artists who have demonstrated exceptional achievements in the field of Latin music. This year, the honorees include Spanish singer-songwriter Carmen Linares, renowned for her profound grasp of flamenco; Mexican artist Mijares, after spending three decades in the industry scoring international hits; and Arturo Sandoval, a Cuban-American trumpeter and co-founder of the groundbreaking group Irakere, who has displayed his versatility in Latin jazz and classical composition.
Also recognized were the iconic Argentine rock group Soda Stereo; Brazilian singer Simone, who left an indelible mark on the MPB movement with her prolific discography; and Ana Torroja, the voice of the Spanish pop trio Mecano, who embarked on a successful solo career and has experimented with a variety of musical styles.
The Trustees Awards are given to individuals who have made substantial contributions to Latin music beyond performance. This year’s winners were Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla, for his pioneering work in various genres, particularly Latin rock; Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña, who left his mark on the tropical music scene; and Puerto Rican guitarist Wisón Torres, for his unique ability to arrange and harmonize vocal quartets, leaving a lasting impact on Latin American music throughout his more than 75-year career.
The honorees were celebrated during a private event in the Teatro Lope de Vega in Sevilla, Spain. Below are quotes and more information about the nine honorees.
Alex Acuña
Image Credit: Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images for Latin Recording Academy
The 2023 Latin Grammys are coming up next week, and this year they’re being held for the first time in Seville, Spain. Some of the biggest names in Latin music are competing for album of the year (one of the four main awards, along with song of the year, record of the year and best […]
Mexican singer Danna Paola, Colombian superstar Sebastián Yatra, Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sánchez and Spanish actress Paz Vega are set to host the 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards. The ceremony will be broadcasted from the Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES) in Seville, Andalucía in Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. ET via Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S., and at 10:30 p.m. CET on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) in Spain.
Racking up a total of 15 Latin Grammy nods throughout his career, Sebastián Yatra is nominated for best pop song for “Contigo,” featuring Pablo Alborán. A host staple for the award show, Roselyn Sánchez returns for the sixth time after presenting the 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th and 22nd Annual Latin Grammys. Also, previously nominated for a Latin Grammy, Danna Paola joins the lineup of hosts for the first time. Last but not least, award-winning actress Paz Vega returns for a second time after hosting the 20th annual ceremony.
The first round of performers were announced earlier this week, which includes Maria Becerra, Bizarrap, Feid, Kany García, Carin León, Christian Nodal, Rauw Alejandro and Alejandro Sanz.
This year, Mexican-American super producer Edgar Barrera leads the list of nominees with 13 nods, including songwriter of the year, producer of the year and song of the year. Barrera is followed by Colombian stars Camilo, Karol G, Shakira and composer Kevyn Mauricio Cruz (also known as Keityn), each with seven nominations. See the full list of 2023 Latin Grammy nominations here.
Prior to the Latin Grammys, the Latin Recording Academy will bestow the Person of the Year title to Italian icon Laura Pausini. Marco Antonio Solís received this prestigious honor last year.
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