Juan Luis Guerra has won the awards for Best Album and Best Record of the Year at the 25th edition of the Latin Grammy, held tonight in Miami, confirming himself as the night's victor. Urban music artists were favorites, but neither Karol G, Shakira, Bad Bunny, nor Residente had much prominence in an evening filled with nostalgia and classic Latin sounds.
With 67 years of age and over 40 years of career, Juan Luis Guerra and his 4.40 have not only overshadowed reggaeton but also rap, trap, and electronic music. They did it with the small album Radio Güira, inspired by old radio music stations where they would switch from bachata to mambo, merengue, or big band music: a feast of old tropical sounds.
Juan Luis Guerra also received the award for Best Record, recognizing the most complete song of the year including composition, arrangements, production, and performance. It was for his song Mambo 23, a tremendous merengue mambo for which he also received the award for Best Tropical Song. The veteran Dominican artist and his group received a fourth award, recognizing the Best Merengue Album.
Jorge Drexler: Song of the Year
The other protagonist of the night was also a veteran musician well known in Spain, Jorge Drexler. His two awards were one of the big surprises of the night, although a half-surprise. The two minutes of his song Derrumbe earned him one of the 4 major awards, the Song of the Year; he also received the award for Best Singer-Songwriter Song for it.
"This is crazy, I never thought I would win it," said this 60-year-old musician who learned to surprise everyone two decades ago when he won the Oscar for Al otro lado del río. "The group of composers in which this little song was found is so incredible that I can only thank the Academy for removing my imposter syndrome," added Drexler. The veteran Uruguayan singer-songwriter residing in Madrid emotionally dedicated both awards to his father, who passed away 11 days ago, as he explained from the stage.
The failure of Spanish music has been tremendous. Our artists had a total of 15 nominations, but one after another they lost except for Niña Pastori, who won her sixth Latin Grammy. "I am happy, but I cannot help but think of the people from my land, especially Valencia, who have suffered a very strong situation with the DANA," she said from the stage. "A big kiss to my people in Valencia, to all the people who have been attentive and fighting, we are a supportive country and this Latin Grammy is for them."
Alejandro Sanz also remembered as a presenter by asking for "a supportive applause for our people in Spain, who we know are going through a terrible time."
Niña Pastori shared the award with the Mexican Lila Downs and the Argentine Soledad, with whom she recorded the album Raíz nunca me fui. The album is a continuation of the one the three singers recorded a decade ago (Raíz), with which they received precisely the same award, the Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2014.
Aside from Niña Pastori, the other Spanish artists nominated were Rozalén (twice), Quevedo, David Bisbal, Iñigo Quintero, Valeria Castro with Ale Acosta, C. Tangana, Mägo De Oz, Diego el Cigala, Vetusta Morla, and Carlos Sadness. All of them lost. In the category of Best Flamenco Album, guitarist Antonio Rey prevailed over Vicente Amigo and the group Las Migas. It is the second time that the Madrid guitarist has won this award.
In the Latin Grammy nominations, Spanish music had 14 chances, compared to Colombia's 44, Mexico's 32, or Puerto Rico's 31. Only one of those chances was for the big four (Best Album, Record, Song, and New Artist), but Iñigo Quintero lost to the Colombian Ela Taubert.
Nathy Peluso, Kany García, and Edgar Barrera
Nathy Peluso has won three awards and a resounding sense of triumph because in some of them she was not at all the favorite. The most evident of all, the Best Rap Song, where she competed against Bad Bunny, Eladio Carrión, Al2 El Aldeano, Vico C, and Akapellah. She also won the award for Best Alternative Song for El día que perdí mi juventud, included in her album Grasa. The song emerged one late night, Peluso explained in her gratitude. "I had lost what moved me the most: my illusions and desires. Then I said to myself, 'I have to recover.' And the best way to save ourselves is through music, making it and listening to it. For me, music has always been my path, my faith," she affirmed. So, she concluded, she decided to "write a prophecy and regain youth, innocence, and freedom," and thus came out this award-winning song that summarizes the achievement that is Grasa.
Before that, Nathy Peluso won the award for Best Long-Form Music Video, which she humorously ended by thanking herself: "Thanks to myself for getting me out of where I was and daring to do so," she said.
In a very distributed Latin Grammy Awards (a total of 58 awards), Kany García has been one of the revelations. The Puerto Rican singer won the awards for Best Singer-Songwriter Song and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. With a two-decade career, she arrived at the Latin Grammy Awards with her ninth album, García, in a night that could have been great for Puerto Rican music, as two of the favorites to triumph were Bad Bunny and Residente. However, they only won one minor award each. Much better was Luis Fonsi, another classic, recognized for Best Pop Vocal Album.
Karol G, the winner of the 2023 Latin Grammy edition with eight nominations this year, had to settle for the award for Best Urban Music Album with the expanded reissue of Mañana será bonito. Shakira, on the other hand, came up empty-handed: not a single award, unless we consider Tiësto's remix of the Bzrp Session 53, which won Best Latin Electronic Music Performance.
Edgar Barrera is another winner of the day. The prodigious man behind numerous Latin mega-hits arrived at this 25th edition of the Latin Grammy Awards with 21 awards already in his career and as the artist with the most nominations, nine in total. As in 2023, he was recognized with the awards for Best Producer and Best Composer of the year. Additionally, he won the award for Best Regional Mexican Song for the song Por el contrario by Grupo Firme and Grupo Frontera.
A gala full of performances
The gala unfolded literally as a showcase of the current Latin music scene. Modern and classic artists, groundbreaking music, and music that appeals to nostalgia were all represented, with artists of all nationalities and ages taking the stage. In a hyperventilated show, instead of having one performance every six awards, there were six performances between each award.
The succession of artists (more than 30) has been as dizzying as it has been fleeting because they barely had time to sing a couple of minutes.
This has happened to Quevedo, who in a minute and a half linked Columbia and Duro, and that's it. A very outstanding performance has been that of David Bisbal, who has offered a resounding version of El triste by José José alongside the Mexican Carlos Rivera, a ballad in which he has been determined and powerful.