The Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album
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The Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album is given to the best-performing Latin album of the year. This award is determined by Billboard’s panel of Latin music experts.
History of the award
In 1996, the Billboard Music Awards created the Top Latin Album award. This award is given to the Latin album that performed the best during the eligibility period. The eligibility period is from the previous December to the current November. Billboard magazine publishes an annual list of the top Latin albums in the United States, and the award is given to the album that topped that list.
Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album is an honor presented annually at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, a ceremony which recognizing “the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin genres”, where music is defined as Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recordings.
The award was first presented to Mexican group Mœnia in 2000 for their album Forastero in the Heavens (1999) under the name of “Best Spanish-Language Album”. The award was renamed to “Top Latin Album” from 2005 to 2007, before resuming its original name in 2008. At the 2010 ceremony, Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona became the first non-Latino artist to be honored with the award for his album Poquita Ropa (2009).
The trophy awarded to the winner is a golden disc with a relief of an astronaut on a launchpad surrounded by musical notes. As of 2020, no female artist has won the award. American band Mana and Mexican singer Luis Miguel are the only acts to have won on more than one occasion, with Mana winning in 2002 and 2003 for Drama y Luz (2001) and Revolución de Amor (2002), respectively, while Luis Miguel has won three times: in 1997 for Romances (1996), in 1999 for Segundo Romance (1998), and in 2009 for Complices (2008). Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin has received the most nominations without ever winning, with five.
Latin Grammy Awards
The Latin Grammy Awards are an annual award ceremony that recognizes excellence and promotes awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally. The awards are presented in twenty-six categories. The ceremony is broadcast live on television, radio, and the Internet. The awards are bestowed by The Latin Recording Academy, which is an international, membership-based organization composed of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, and engineers.
The Latin Grammy Awards were established in 2000 by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) to recognize the best recordings of any language from anywhere in the world. NARAS is a membership-based organization composed of American recording artists, musicians, producers, engineers, and other music industry professionals. NARAS’s mission is to promote music’s importance within society and to promote the careers of recording artists and musicians through public service and outreach programs.
The first Latin Grammy Awards were presented on September 13, 2000, at a gala ceremony at Gotham Hall in New York City. The event was hosted by actress Edie Falco and featured performances by a number of famous Latin music stars including Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Carlos Santana, Alejandro Sanz, Caifanes, Morrissey, Miguel Bosé, David Bisbal, Laura Pausini, Lolita Cortés & Rocío Dúrcal.
Notable winners
Shakira and Juanes are the most awarded performers in this category with two wins each. Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, and Ricky Martin have also won this award two times each.
Shakira
Shakira is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and philanthropist. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school musicals and plays at the age of seven. Shakira’s eighth studio album, El Dorado, was released on 26 May 2017. The album features the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “La La La (Brazil 2014)” as well as the top 10 singles “Me Enamoré” and “Chantaje”.
Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin is a Puerto Rican singer, actor, and author. He is widely considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. Raised in a Roman Catholic household, Martin began his career at age 12 with the all-boy pop group Menudo. After five years with the group, he released several Spanish-language solo albums throughout the 1990s. Since the beginning of his solo career in 1991, Ricky Martin has sold over 70 million albums worldwide. He is also known for his roles on television shows such as General Hospital and The Young and the Restless. His performance in a Broadway production of Evita earned him a Tony Award nomination in 1996.
In 1999, Ricky Martin released his self-titled album which included the hit single “Livin’ La Vida Loca”. The album’s success led him to release two more albums; Sound Loaded in 2000 and Almas del Silencio in 2003. These albums brought Ricky Martin global fame and established him as one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time. He has won numerous awards throughout his career including three Grammy Awards, four Latin Grammy Awards, and nine Billboard Music Awards. In 2018, Ricky Martin was awarded the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album for his album A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. Gloria Estefan has won seven Grammy Awards. She has 31 Billboard Hot 100 hits, and is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music history. Gloria Estefan has won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album three times.
Criteria for the award
To be eligible for the award, an album must have been released within the eligibility period and must have sold at least 3,000,000 copies worldwide. The album must have been released in the United States.
Sales
To be eligible for the award, the album must have been released within the eligibility period and must have shipped at least 500,000 copies within the United States.
Airplay
The Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album is an award given annually by Billboard magazine. The award is given to the best-performing album in the Latin music genre, as determined by the album’s performance on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.
Social media
To be eligible for the award, an album must have been released within the eligibility period and must have sold at least 3,000 digital copies. The album must also have generated at least 30 million on-demand audio and/or video streams.
