Latin
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Puerto Rican Maldy starts off the new year with a new career success as “Gatúbela,” with Karol G, captures first place on Billboard’s Latin Rhythm Airplay chart (dated Jan. 7). The song gives the reggaetón singer his first champ as a soloist on any airplay chart.
“Gatúbela,” produced by DJ Maff, arrives at the summit with a 3-1 jump, generating 7 million in audience impressions, up 1%, earned in the U.S. in week ending Dec. 29, according to Luminate. The track was released Aug. 26 via Universal Music/UMLE and reaches a No. 1 in its 18th week.
Maldy, one-half of veteran reggaetón duo Plan B, scores his first chart-topper on any airplay ranking a decade after he earned a first Latin Rhythm Airplay entry. He reached a No. 21 high prior with “La Formula Sigue,” with Zion, Arcangel, Lennox, Chencho, and RKM & Ken-Y, in 2012. During his Plan B era, Maldy went as high as No. 4 with “Mi Vecinita” in 2014.
Karol G, meanwhile, enters a tie for the eighth-most No. 1s on Latin Rhythm Airplay. She matches Don Omar, Nicky Jam and Yandel, all with 14 leaders.
Here’s the scoreboard since the list begun in 2005:
34, Daddy Yankee
34, J Balvin
28, Ozuna
19, Bad Bunny
19, Maluma
19, Wisin
19, Wisin & Yandel
14, Don Omar
14, Karol G
14, Nicky Jam
14, Yandel
We’re only three and a half months away from the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which means this year’s headliners should be announced any day now.
However, before that big reveal comes, we want to know who you think should take the main stage in Indio, Calif. this April.
Frank Ocean is, obviously, the best bet for this year’s festival in the desert, considering he was originally supposed to headline the 2020 iteration along with Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott before it was canceled by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s also previously been announced as one of the main acts this April, so if that holds true, two other headliners will be joining him on the lineup.
Both Bad Bunny and Rihanna are also strong contenders among Billboard‘s predictions. The former capped off 2022 as the top touring act of the year, with his combined El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo & World’s Hottest Tour grossing a total of $373.5 million and selling 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows while the latter will make her triumphant return to performing just two months ahead of Coachella by headlining the Super Bowl LVII halftime show. Could Bad Bunny walk back his plan for a quiet 2023 to bring Un Verano Sin Ti to the desert? Will Rihanna double down on her hotly anticipated Super Bowl show by turning Coachella into RiRichella?
Other possibilities for headliners include Dua Lipa, SZA and Drake — the latter of whom last headlined back in 2015 before he ever had a single Hot 100 No. 1 under his belt. BLACKPINK could also make a victorious return to the Empire Polo Club in between the Asia dates of the Born Pink World Tour after making history at the festival four years ago. Even still, less likely candidates such as Olivia Rodrigo, Kate Bush or someone else entirely could serve as this year’s biggest surprise.
Vote for who you want to see headline Coachella 2023 in Billboard‘s poll below.
Alba Egan, the genial public and talent relations executive who was instrumental in boosting the careers of Chayanne, Ricky Martin and Juan Gabriel, among many others, has died after a long struggle with kidney disease. Egan passed away at her Miami home on Sunday evening (Jan. 1). She was 69.
A no-nonsense but cheerful woman, Egan — widely known as Albita — was easily identifiable by her signature bright red hair (which would later turn gray) as she helped some of Latin music’s biggest stars navigate the media. As one of the first women to head press and publicity divisions at major labels, Egan worked at BMG Latin, Sony Discos and EMI Latin in Miami, coordinating campaigns for artists ranging from Ricardo Montaner to Shakira. Egan, who was born in Cuba and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, at one point managed the career of beloved Mexican icon Gabriel, with whom she remained close until his death in 2016.
Many of Latin music’s most prominent publicists credit Egan with having opened major doors for them in their profession.
“She was one of the most beloved people in the music industry,” says publicist Marlene Maseda, founder and COO of Fusion 4 Media. “She was a pioneer who, with her originality and creativity, climbed to the peak of her profession in every label she worked with […] As a professional, she was one of the few who always helped others and who was genuinely happy for others’ success.”
Egan’s Facebook page was flooded with homage posts and anecdotes from people from all walks of the industry.
“She was a mentor to me and it surprised me to see that she was a mentor to so many,” wrote Nevarez Communications founder Mayna Nevarez, whose client list includes Daddy Yankee, recalling that Egan would often call to give her pointers after seeing her clients in the media.
“You always had the perfect word of advice, and sometimes, the perfect word to calm one down. I take your advice very deeply with me,” wrote Nini Veras, who reps Nicky Jam, among others.
“Elegant,” “generous,” “respect” and “loyalty” are the words that recur again and again in the many posts on Egan’s page.
“You were an icon in the music industry loved and respected by many…You always had a way with words and were giving out constant encouragement and kind compliments to your friends,” wrote Angela Rodríguez, founder of AR Entertainment.
Egan’s last job in the industry was as a talent booker at TV network America TV, closing an extraordinary professional arc that began in the 1980s and that covered multiple generations of artists and executives.
“We met in this amazing music industry world at the end of the 1980s, and since then, we were colleagues and competition, but always friends,” wrote Alvaro Rizo, the former president of EMI Colombia. “You only ever spoke sweet words and generous comments, and always, that broad smile.”
Egan’s funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
In May 2021, Gera MX and Christian Nodal made Billboard history with their collaboration “Botella Tras Botella,” becoming the first-ever regional Mexican title to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart in its 64-year history. The country-tinged hip-hop fusion debuted and peaked at No. 60.
“This song did not have a marketing strategy or a plan. It has soul,” Gera MX, a former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise, previously told Billboard. “I wrote it thinking about someone very important to me and people can tell that it hurt me a lot. I can’t find any other explanation and it’s beautiful. You’re not only showing off your artistic side, but also your human side.”
That same year, two other Regional Mexican titles entered the Hot 100 chart, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay, and sales data: Ivan Cornejo’s “Esta Dañada” and Grupo Firme’s “Ya Superame.”
But it was sibling trio Yahritza y Su Esencia, who as of now, has earned the highest ranking for a regional Mexican song on the chart with “Soy El Unico,” debuting at No. 20 in 2022. The then 15-year-old lead singer’s feat was historic, becoming the youngest Latin performer to enter the all-genre tally.
“I know that the words are very strong, but honestly, when it comes down to me writing my songs, it’s more like a research process,” Yahritza, who penned the song at 13, explained to Billboard at the time. “I see other people’s stories on TikTok — that’s how I found ‘Soy El Unico,’ because I saw a clip that said, ‘It’s crazy how someone can leave you when you’re the only one who’s best for them.’ No one’s going to believe me when I say that I get my inspiration from TikTok.”
Like “Soy El Unico,” most of these tracks have been fueled by their massive success on TikTok and social media, such as Grupo Frontera’s “No Se Va” last year. The song, which the group released independently and is a Norteño cover of Colombian group Morat’s 2018 single, debuted at No. 99 with 4.8 million U.S. streams (up 43%) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 278%) in the Sept. 23-29, 2022, tracking week, according to Luminate.
Their latest collaborations, “Que Vuelvas” and “Bebe Dame,” have earned Carin León and Fuerza Regida, each respectively, their first No. 1s on the Hot 100 dated Jan. 7, 2023.
As of now, only seven Regional Mexican tracks have entered the Hot 100. Prior, only three other regional Mexican acts have visited the chart since its inception in 1958, all through pop songs: Kumbia Kings and A.B. Quintanilla with their collaborative tune “U Don’t Love Me” (2000), and Marco Antonio Solis with his featured role on Enrique Iglesias’ “El Perdedor” (2014).
Check out every regional Mexican song to enter the Hot 100 below:
Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi is facing a new lawsuit over a decades-old claim of sexual assault against two minors.
In a civil complaint filed in Los Angeles on Friday (Dec. 30), two Jane Does allege the singer-songwriter and her ex-producer, Sergio Andrade, “groomed” and “exploited” them when they were between the ages of 13 and 15 back in the early 1990s.
The lawsuit, independently obtained by Billboard and first reported on Wednesday by Rolling Stone, does not specifically name Trevi or Andrade — listing them only as anonymous Doe defendants — but based on the timeline of events and the details of the albums included in the suit, it’s clear that Trevi and Andrade are the defendants.
According to the plaintiffs, Trevi and Andrade used their “role, status, and power as a well-known and successful Mexican pop star and a famous producer” to coerce sexual contact with them over a course of years, much of it occurring in California. As a result of the sexual harassment, abuse and assault, the Plaintiffs have “suffered severe emotional, physical and psychological distress, including humiliation, shame, and guilt.”
The 30-page lawsuit, which includes claims of childhood sexual abuse, harassment and/or assault, was filed just days before the expiration of California’s Child Victims Act, which temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits. After a three-year window of availability, the deadline to file such long-delayed lawsuits was Dec. 31, 2022.
The new allegations against the “Todos Me Miran” singer come nearly 20 years after she was acquitted by a judge and found not guilty on charges of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors. This resulted in the immediate release of Trevi, who was being held at a prison in Chihuahua, Mexico and faced up to 25 years behind bars.
The previous trial occurred after Trevi, Andrade and backup singer María Raquenel Portillo, also known as Mary Boquitas, were arrested in January 2000 in Rio de Janeiro for allegedly luring young girls into a cult-like pornographic ring. Former vocalist Karina Yapor, who filed criminal charges against the so-called Trevi clan, alleged that backup recruits wanting to join the band were forced to have sexual relations with Andrade.
A representative for Trevi declined a request for comment.
Read the entire lawsuit here:
Brazilian powerhouse Anitta is among the nominees for best new artist at the 2023 Grammys, and before she walks down the red carpet in February, Billboard invited her into the studio to talk about her first Grammy nod and much more.
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Speaking with Billboard News, Anitta reveals that when she found out she was nominated, she was already in full Grammy mode, as she was hosting the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas. She also shared that the best new artist nomination is something of an irony, given that she began her career in Brazil 12 years ago.
“But here in America,” she says, “I’m just starting right now … It’s so different, it’s so hard for me to get to this other level of jumping into another market and working there that for me it is a new artist, because for me it is a new career from zero.”
She also notes that the last time a Brazilian act was nominated for best new artist was in 1964, when Astrud Gilberto earned a nod on the heels of the hit “Girl From Ipanema,” a song Anitta pays homage to on “Girl From Rio” from her 2022 LP Versions Of Me.
She continues that while it’s been challenging to get non-Brazilian audiences to get used to her native language — Portuguese — global markets are warming up to it via her work, and that’s she’s working on a funk album that will fully showcase the sounds and style of her homeland.
“For me,” she says, “I understand that this whole moment was like the construction of the foundation for me to actually introduce my culture.”
Watch the interview above, and stay tuned for part two of the conversation in the coming weeks.
Puerto Rican Ñengo Flow claims his highest charting title on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart thanks to “Gato de Noche,” his second team-up with Bad Bunny. The song, released three days before Christmas, debuts at No. 2 on the Jan. 7-dated list.
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“Gato de Noche” arrives in the runner-up slot on the multi-metric ranking thanks to its lofty streaming contribution during the Dec. 23-29 tracking week. The song, which dropped Dec. 22 via Rimas Entertainment, generated 11.4 million official U.S. streams in its first week, according to Luminate. That yields to a No. 2 debut on Latin Streaming Songs.
Sales also contribute to its high start: “Gato” sold 1,000 downloads in the same period. The sum is an 187% increase from the prior week’s totals (which only had one day of sales, Dec. 22), with a 12-3 surge on Latin Digital Song Sales.
Back on Hot Latin Songs (which blends airplay, streams and digital sales), “Gato de Noche” sends “Me Porto Bonito,” another one of Bad Bunny’s tunes, with Chencho Corleone, to No. 3 after its 12-week run at No. 2. (The track previously logged 20 weeks in charge.)
As mentioned, rapper Ñengo Flow outdoes his personal best with “Gato.” His prior highest bow was with “Safaera,” also with Benito, alongside duo Jowell & Randy; the song peaked at No. 4 in April 2020.
Further, “Gato” becomes Bad Bunny’s highest Hot Latin Songs debut through a collaborative effort since “Volví,” with Aventura, also launched at No. 2 in August 2021. Plus, “Gato” earns the highest start on the chart since Bad Bunny’s “Titi Me Preguntó” arrived at No. 2 in May 2022. The latter continues at the helm in its 13th consecutive week.
Elsewhere, Ñengo concurrently scores his best entry on the overall Billboard Hot 100 as “Gato” bows at No. 62.
It’s officially 2023, and you know what they say: new year, new tour.
This year, a wave of Latin artists across different genres will hit the road, including urban hitmakers like Anuel AA with his rescheduled Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren Tour; Eladio Carrión with The Sauce Tour; and Rauw Alejandro with his Saturno World Tour, where he will be joined by renowned dance crew Jabbawockeez.
Latin pop music is also well-represented with promising U.S. tours by Bacilos (Back in the USA ’23), Ha*Ash (Mi Salida Contigo), Kenia OS (The K23), and power couples Greeicy and Mike Bahía (Amantes: Kai) and Kim Loaiza and JD Pantoja (Bye Bye), to name a few.
Meanwhile, some Regional Mexican acts that unveiled their 2023 treks are Los Temerarios and Ivan Cornejo who’s “super excited to go on my first tour” and “wanted intimate venues, because now more than ever, the connection to the fans is super important.” (See the complete 2023 Latin Tours list here.)
Last year, Billboard asked readers to vote for the best tour of 2022, with fans ultimately crowning Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour with more than 27 percent of the votes, followed by Karol G’s $trip Love Tour with 19 percent. The former closed out the year with a record-breaking $435 million in tour grosses that combine more than 80 concerts from two separate treks (El Último Tour del Mundo and The World’s Hottest Tour). The latter became the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a female Latin act, earning $69.9 million and selling 410,000 tickets across 33 shows in North America.
Now, with new acts hitting the road in 2023, who are you excited to see in concert? Vote below!
Willy Chirino is celebrating his 50-year music career with a series of tributes, activities and releases — including a mural in Miami’s Calle Ocho, a street with his name in New Jersey, a museum exhibition, a concert and a new album.
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The singer-songwriter behind salsa classics like “Medias Negras” and “Pobre Diabla” was waiting for the right moment to release Sigo Pa’lante, his first studio album in more than a decade, which finally came out in December. With reggaetón becoming more and more entrenched in popular taste, he says he was taking his time to study the landscape.
“There was a transition in music after my last album that was very dramatic,” he explains to Billboard Español about his hiatus. But the 50th anniversary, with all the fanfare and the news surrounding it, was the perfect occasion to release the album he’d been working on for the past three years.
Although he wasn’t really hibernating — in recent years he’d released an album of traditional Latin American songs with his wife Lissette (Amarraditos), two Christmas albums (Llegó la Navidad and Willy & Lissette Navidad En Familia) and other covers sets (My Favorites and My Beatles Heart) — Sigo Pa’lante (which means “I keep going”) is his first project of new music since 2008’s Pa’lante.
Composed of 12 tracks, it opens with the joyous “Imagínate” and includes collaborations with Gilberto Santa Rosa (on the first single “La Música”), Leoni Torres (“Para Mi Viejo”), El Chacal (the album’s title track), Lissette (“Mi Corazón Es Un Pueblo”) and his daughter Jesse (“Agua De Marzo,” a cover of the Brazilian classic “Aguas De Marzo” by Antonio Carlos Jobim).
It closes with an anthem of freedom for Cuba, “Que Se Vaya Ya,” a song as energetic as it is emotional, released in September 2021 with contributions from Lenier, Micha, Chacal, Osmani García and Srta. Dayana. “Let them take all the bad things/ Let them go, let them go/ We can’t take the beatings anymore/ Let them leave now/ Because the people suffer and keep quiet/ Let them go, let them go/ Let them take the shrapnel/ Let them go now ”, they sing in Spanish.
Chirino, in fact, dedicates Sigo Pa’lante to his fans in Cuba, where he says that people continue to listen to his songs “despite all the mishaps they have suffered to do so.”
“They’ve payed a price that is not money, because listening to my music for a long time was totally prohibited,” the artist continues, adding that “when they found them listening, [the authorities] beat them, imprisoned them, took their boomboxes away. In other words, they were mistreated simply for the fact of listening to my music. So that for me has a special recognition”.
Although he clarifies that his songs are not currently banned in his native country, he says that his anti-Castro stance has made him persona non grata, and that his requests to perform in the island have never been answered.
Chirino debuted in 1974 with the album One Man Alone, and has released more than twenty albums since — but his career began earlier, as part of different bands and orchestras. The 50th anniversary dates back to 1972, when he says he began to use his own name when creating music as a solo artist.
On the Billboard charts, he’s scored 13 entries on the Tropical Albums listing, seven of which reached the top 10: Sarabanda in 1986, Acuarela del Caribe in 1990, Oxígeno in 1991, South Beach in 1993, Cubanísimo in 2005, Pa’lante in 2008 and Llegó la Navidad in 2012. He’s also had six entries on the Hot Latin Songs chart, two on Latin Airplay, and two on Top Latin Albums.
To mark his half century in music, the winner of awards such as the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Billboard Latin Spirit of Hope Award has been honored in his adoptive city of Miami with a mural in Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. The 60 by 55 foot work was commissioned by the Miami Mayor’s Office to Chilean artist Alexandra Seda and was unveiled on October 28.
Additionally, the city of West New York, NJ paid tribute to Willy Chirino on December 15 by naming a street after the Cuban salsa star. Accompanied by personalities such as Paquito D’Rivera, the singer (along with mayor Gabriel Rodriguez) unveiled the blue sign for the Willy Chirino Way — at the corner of 54th Street and Boulevard East.
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And the celebrations continue in 2023 with a retrospective exhibition of his career at the HistoryMiami Museum that will be open to the public from January 27 to September 10, and a big concert on March 11 at the James L Knight Center in Miami.
“It really feels great, and to see the people’s reaction is really beautiful,” says Chirino. “I thank God for this extraordinary life that he has given me … For having my family healthy and well, but also for the number of people throughout the world who listen to my music, who dance to it — because that’s what it was made for.”
Ever since the touring industry reopened in 2021, Latin music became unbeatable, with some of its biggest acts announcing tours in 2022 — including Bad Bunny, who closed out the year with a record-breaking $435 million in tour grosses that combine more than 80 concerts from two separate treks (El Último Tour del Mundo and The World’s Hottest Tour).
Colombian star Karol G also made history, becoming the highest U.S.-grossing tour by a female Latin act with her $Trip Love Tour, grossing $69.9 million and selling 410,000 tickets across 33 shows in North America, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore. The “Bichota” singer surpassed Jennifer Lopez‘s $50 million grossing It’s My Party World Tour in 2019.
While Bunny and Karol made the rounds, two of reggaetón’s big dogs, Daddy Yankee and Wisin y Yandel, also kicked off their individual farewell tours.
The former wrapped his La Última Vuelta World Tour with $197.8 million and 1.9 million tickets sold over 83 shows in 2022, making it the second-biggest tour by a Latin artist in Boxscore history. The latter wrapped the year with a historic residency of 14 sold-out concerts at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot, part of the duo’s La Última Misión World Tour.
Other memorable treks last year included Feid, Christian Nodal, Sebastian Yatra, and Rosalía, whose Motomami World Tour grossed $28.1 million through the end of October.
This year, the show must go on, and artists such as Rauw Alejandro, Eladio Carrión, Maná, and Ha*Ash, are all ready to hit the road. See our list of Latin tours that have already been announced for 2023 below.