Ruben Blades in 2014

Ruben Blades

Photo: Maury Philips/Getty Images

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Rubén Blades Wins Best Salsa Album | 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards

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The Panamanian Renaissance man is nominated for a total of three awards tonight, including Album Of The Year
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 2:59 pm

Panamanian singer/songwriter, composer, actor, activist, and bandleader Rubén Blades has won the Latin GRAMMY for Best Salsa Album, for Salsa Big Band.

Rubén Blades On Best Salsa Album Win

"Good Evening ... hold this, it's heavy! Very good evening. First, thank you to the Academy for the invitation that we received to be here and form part of this event. Thank you to all who voted for us. Thank you also to Roberto Delgado and the orchestra for an excellent record. Thank you Orosmán de la Guardia, [who] created the graphic design [for] the covers. And also [to] the engineers: Nacho, Molino, Paolo, and Daniel. And we also want to give thanks to Panama, [which] has always been our inspiration. So in the name of Panama and the national artistic class, we accept this award. This is Roberto Delgado — he created the arrangements. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, like always, to Ruben for giving me the opportunity to work the arrangements of this production and be his musical director for the past seven years. Thank you to the technicians, Paolo, Daniel, Nacho, [and] all of the musicians that participated. And I want to dedicate this to Panama [and] to my family that is here — my wife, my children — and my province, Chiriquí. Long live!" — Rubén Blades

Blades, who shared the award with Roberto Delgado & Orquesta, is nominated for a total of three awards tonight, including Album Of The Year. This is his third career win for Best Salsa Album, and seventh career Latin GRAMMY. [Ed.: Blades won the award for Album Of The Year.]

His fellow nominees in the category tonight were Juan Pablo Díaz, Alain Pérez, Alberto Barros, and producer Isidro Infante.

A working songwriter since the mid-1970s, Blades built a career writing primarily Afro-Cuban, salsa, and Latin jazz music, and now has a catalog of hit songs to his name, including "Pedro Najava" and "Patria."

See The Complete List Of Winners From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs

Alejandro Sanz photographed in 2017

Photo: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images

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Alejandro Sanz: 7 Milestones From The 2017 Latin Person Of The Year

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From Latin GRAMMY-winning albums to all-star collaborations and philanthropy, retrace some of the 2017 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honoree's biggest career moments
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 9, 2017 - 8:41 am

Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Alejandro Sanz's contribution to both Latin and mainstream music over the course of his nearly 30-year career has been remarkable.

In honor of his musical achievements, as well as his extensive philanthropic work in partnership with organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Save The Children, the Latin Recording Academy selected Sanz as their 2017 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year.

Sanz will be honored at a charity gala on Nov. 15 — the night prior to the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards — with the proceeds benefitting the education and preservation causes championed by the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation.

In celebration of Sanz' forthcoming honor, take a look back at some of his prominent career milestones, which paint a picture of the indelible impact he has had on the music industry.

Más

While Sanz enjoyed commercial success in his home country of Spain since his sophomore full-length LP, 1991's Viviendo Deprisa, it was 1997's Más that saw the Madrid native step resoundingly onto the world stage. A multiplatinum LP in multiple countries, Más has been certified an astounding 22-times platinum in Spain, where it remains the most popular album in the country's history.

MTV Unplugged: Alejandro Sanz

Sanz' next record, 2000's El Alma Al Aire, stoked the fervor of budding fans in the U.S. and earned him his first four career Latin GRAMMYs — including Album Of The Year — at the 2nd Latin GRAMMY Awards. This paved the way for Sanz to appear as the first Latin artist ever on a special episode of MTV's iconic "Unplugged" series in 2001. He later told The Washington Post, "[MTV's 'Unplugged'] changed the way I do my music. It was a rediscovery of how to perform, and also how to record music with live musicians. That was the spirit of the music in its pure form." MTV Unplugged: Alejandro Sanz won three Latin GRAMMYs, including his second-consecutive Album Of The Year, at the 3rd Latin GRAMMY Awards.

Cultural And Academic Honors

Sanz has championed Latin culture in the U.S. throughout his career. In 2004 he became the first Spanish musician to give a lecture at Harvard University, where he discussed Hispanic culture at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. In 2011 he was selected by ASCAP to receive the Latin Heritage Award in honor of "his unique and enduring contributions to Latin music." More recently, in 2013 Sanz was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Berklee College of Music.

A Collaboration With The King Of Pop

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Michael Jackson wrote and released the charity single "What More Can I Give." The song was recorded by a supergroup of nearly 30 artists, and the proceeds benefitted the families of victims and first responders injured or killed in the wake of the attacks. With help from GRAMMY winner Rubén Blades, Jackson also adapted the lyrics into a Spanish-language version titled "Todo Para Ti." Sanz was enlisted to help record the track with a smaller supergroup of primarily Latin artists, some of whom also sang on the English version of the song.

Record-Setting Latin GRAMMY Win

Sanz' 2004 studio album, No Es Lo Mismo, netted four Latin GRAMMYs, including Album Of The Year, at the 5th Latin GRAMMYs, as well as a GRAMMY for Best Latin Pop Album at the 46th GRAMMY Awards. Sanz's win for No Es Lo Mismo set the record for most Latin GRAMMY Album Of The Year awards won by a single artist in the now 17-year history of the Latin GRAMMYs. His record has since been tied, but not broken, by Juanes, Calle 13 and Juan Luis Guerra 4.40, who each have three Album Of The Year wins to their names.

"La Tortura" With Shakira

GRAMMY winner Shakira's 2005 duet alongside Sanz, "La Tortura," not only became an international success, it has been called "one of the most important Latin songs to move to the mainstream U.S. and Canadian markets." The single smashed the contemporary record for longest run on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart by holding the No. 1 spot for 25 nonconsecutive weeks. The record remained unbroken for the next nine years, until it was finally topped by Enrique Iglesias in 2014. To date, the single has sold more than 1 million copies in the United States.

Philanthropic Efforts

Alongside his professional accolades, Sanz' philanthropic efforts have been equally impactful. In the wake of the recent devastating earthquake in central Mexico, Sanz operationalized his charity project, La Fuerza del Corazón (named for his first-ever internationally charting single), to perform outreach and raise funds for groups such as Doctors Without Borders, Save The Children and Greenpeace — with each organization lending a hand to survivors on the ground in Mexico City. On Sept. 23, Sanz also took part in performing for Univision's Unidos Por Los Nuestros seven-hour benefit special aimed at raising funds to assist the Red Cross with its recovery efforts following the natural disasters in Houston, South Florida, central Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The Latin Recording Academy's 2017 Person of the Year benefit gala honoring Sanz will be held at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Nov. 15. Be sure to tune in to the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards on Nov. 16 broadcast live on Univision at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

18th Latin GRAMMY Awards: Full Nominations List

Ruben Blades in 2017

Ruben Blades accepts the Latin GRAMMY for Album Of The Year at the 18th Latin GRAMMYs

Photo: Kevin Winter/WireImage.com

Photo Gallery

Relive Your Favorite Moments From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs (Photo Gallery)

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Take a look back at some of the most memorable moments from The Biggest Night In Latin Music
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 9:47 pm

The 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards is officially in the books. Let's take a look back at some of our favorite moments from The Biggest Night In Latin Music.

Residente in 2017
Relive Your Favorite Moments From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs (Photo Gallery)

See The Complete List Of Winners From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs

 

Residente in 2017

Residente

Photo: Kevin Winter/WireImage.com

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Residente Wins Best Urban Song | 18th Latin GRAMMYs

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The Puerto Rican rapper was nominated for a total of nine Latin GRAMMY Awards
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 5:47 pm

Residente has won the Latin GRAMMY for Best Urban Song, for "Somos Anormales," from his debut solo album Residente, at the 18th Latin GRAMMYs.

Residente Wins Best Urban Song

"Listen up. Thank you. Thank you. I am going to say some abnormal words. First, I give thanks to the Academy. … I want to remind the whole world … that art has nothing to do with figures. We, the artists, are not numbers, we are not figures, we are not data. We do things that we feel and we throw it out to the scene because we feel it with total honesty, and that's what we are rewarding here. So please, please to the whole world, stop posting the amount of followers, the amount of views, the amount of things, and start talking more about the music, about the producers, and who produced the music — the lyrics, which is what is lacking. Long live Puerto Rico. … To all of the urban people, the rappers for real, the MCs that give it all to the rhyme: Thank you for inspiring me. Kase.O, thank you. To the whole world, thank you with all my heart." —​ Residente

This is Residente's – née René Pérez – second win of the evening, having earlier won the award for Best Urban Music Album for his self-titled debut solo album.

His fellow nominees in the category tonight were Língua Franca, Nicky Jam, Pitbull & J Balvin, and Lápiz Consciente.

See The Complete List Of Winners From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs

Juanes in 2017

Juanes

Photo: Lester Cohen/Getty Images

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Juanes Wins Best Pop/Rock Album | 18th Latin GRAMMYs

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The Colombian was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album Of The Year
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 5:26 pm

Juanes has won the Latin GRAMMY for Best Pop/Rock Album, for Mis Planes Son Amarte, at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards.

Juanes Wins Best Pop/Rock Album

"Wow. Thank you very much to everyone really. To the Academy for this recognition. Bull, Nene, Sky, wherever you are, many, many thanks. Jesus Lopez [and] all of the family at Universal Music. Rebeca Leon, Lionfish [Entertainment]. To my wife who is the channel to my life. My children at home — Luna, Paloma and Dante — to my mother, Alicia. Colombia, this is for you. I'm here because of you and for you I'll be here until the end. To Rafa, Henry. To the team that's always with us. Many thanks to the band that accompanies me. Many, many thanks." — Juanes

The win brings the Colombian icon's impressive total of Latin GRAMMY career wins to 22. He was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album Of The Year.

Nominated in the category alongside Juanes tonight were Mikel Erentxun, Jarabe De Palo, Miranda!, and Joaquín Sabina.

Raised in Medellin, Colombia, Juanes began playing guitar at age 7, and started his first band, Ekhymosis, at 15. After releasing five albums with Ehkymosis and achieving domestic success in his home country, Juanes began recording as a solo artist in 2000. On the strength of his debut solo album, Fíjate Bien, won three awards at the 2nd Latin GRAMMY Awards, including Best New Artist, and Best Solo Rock Album.

Tonight's win is Juanes' ninth career win in the Rock Field of the Latin GRAMMY Awards, having previously won categories such as Best Solo Rock Vocal Album and Best Rock Song. He previously won Best Pop/Rock Album for 2014's Loco De Amor .

See The Complete List Of Winners From The 18th Latin GRAMMYs