The night is music in the ears of Latin music fans.
On Thursday, with the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards held in Las Vegas, this genre became the focus, and Rubén Blades received one of the biggest honors of the night.
The 73-year-old 8-time Latin Grammy and 9-time Grammy Award winner won the Album of the Year Award for "Salswing!" Beat Bad Rabbit, Camilo and others with fellow Panamanian Roberto Delgado.
Blades was also named the 2021 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year.
Among those who paid tribute to Blades this week was Christina Aguilera, who performed on Wednesday at the Latin Recording Academy’s 2021 People of the Year Gala. This year I also witnessed Aguilera’s performance at the Latin Grammy Awards-for the first time since 2000 to sing "Pa Mis Muchachas" with Becky G, Nicki Nicole and Nessi Peruso ".
Brazilian singer Marília Mendonça was killed in a small plane crash on her way to the concert earlier this month, and she also received the honor at the ceremony. Mendonça won the best sertaneja music album award in 2019 when he was 26 years old.
Camilo and Juan Luis Guerra each won four awards, tied for most of the night, and both won the best tropical song award, "Dios Así Lo Quiso", the former performed and the latter co-created.
Camilo's other awards include best pop singer album, best pop song, and best urban fusion/performance. Guerra also won awards for best traditional pop singer album, best arrangement and best feature-length music video.
Caetano Veloso and Tom Veloso won the best record of the year with "Talvez", while Juliana Velásquez won the best newcomer award, Gloria Estefan's "Brazil305" won the best contemporary tropical album award, and Bad Bunny's "El Último Tour Del Mundo" won the best record. Best City Music Album Award.
Both Blades and the 27-year-old Bad Bunny have won multiple awards. The former also won the Best Salsa Album Award for Roberto Delgado and Orquesta's "Salsa Plus!" Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and Marco Daniel Borrero's "Booker T" also won the best rap/hip-hop song award and performed "Maldita Pobreza".