The Billboard Latin Music Awards, or simply the Premios Billboard, are annual awards presented by Billboard magazine to recognize the most successful artists, songs, albums, and other achievements on its Latin music charts. Established in 1994 as an extension of the Billboard Music Awards, they are among the longest-running award ceremonies in the Latinmusic industry. Since 1999, the ceremony has been broadcast by Telemundo.
History
The first award ceremony began in 1994 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida, under the name Latin Music Awards to "represent a broad cross-section of Latino talent, covering every music genre," and was then published in Billboard Magazine. The winners were selected based on points accumulated from Billboard's radio and retail charts and categorized into subcategories designed to reward artists, songs and albums over one year (between March 6, 1993, to March 5, 1994). The categories of the Latin music were: pop, tropical/salsa, regional Mexican, rap, rock and jazz. The first ceremony also introduced several special awards, decided by the Billboard editorial committee: the Latin Music Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Award, to recognize an artist's career in the Latin music industry and to honor a musical personality who has largely contributed to the Latin music genre.
During the 1996 ceremony the Spirit of Hope Award was introduced as a special honor "in recognition of artists' extraordinary philanthropic and humanitarian contributions beyond their musical work." The 1997 ceremony was the first with hosts Daisy Fuentes and Herb Alpert. The 1999 awards show, hosted by Daisy Fuentes, was televised for the first time from the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
Since 2021, the Billboard Icon Award, initially presented exclusively during the Billboard Music Awards, has also been awarded during the Latin ceremony. In 2022, the ceremony introduced the Legend Award given to artists "whose contribution to music makes them a household name and who maintain a career that has withstood the test of time".
Bad Bunny is the most awarded artist, having won 61 awards, while Shakira is the most awarded female artist with 44 awards.
The categories are listed according to Billboard's mention throughout the nominations; any changes in the name during the ceremonies are listed alongside.
Overall artist categories
Artist of the Year (1994, 1999–present)
New Artist of the Year (–present)
Tour of the Year (–present)
Crossover Artist of the Year (–present)
Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year (2023–present)
↑The Artist of the Year category was introduced in 2010. The Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year and Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year awards are presented since 1994 and 1998, respectively.
↑The Album of the Year award was introduced in 2008. Each genre had their own Album of the Year category in 1994.
↑Each genre had their own Song of the Year category from 1995 to 1998.
↑Lannert, John (10 June 1995). "Latin Music Conference". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. p.LM-54. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
↑Lannert, John (May 4, 1996). "¡Que Viva La Música!". Billboard. Vol.108, no.18. p.L-3. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
↑Lannert, John (May 3, 1997). "The Winners Are..."Billboard. Vol.109, no.18. Prometheus Global Media. p.LMQ-12. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
