“Si Si Si”! It's the song that Carlos Vives opened the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards with in his medley, and a perfect distillation of the spirit of the night. There's a lot to say “yes” to — especially when he was joined by fellow Colombian musicians Juanes, Sebastián Yatra and Camilo.
He was honored as the Latin Grammys Person of the Year at a ceremony the night before, and given his award on stage Thursday night by Jon Bon Jovi. Past winners include Juanes, Laura Pausini, Marco Antonio Solís, Rubén Blades and more.
The first award of the night was given out shortly thereafter: best contemporary Música Mexicana album to Carín León for his “Boca Chueca, Vol. 1.” Then Joe Jonas and Ela Tauber teamed up for a bilingual take on her viral hit, “¿Cómo Pasó?”
Performances hit hard and fast from there: Kali Uchis, Elena Rose, Myke Towers with “La Falda” into “Lala” and Juan Luis Guerra’s brought his modern merengue “Mambo 23.” Danny Ocean’s “Amor” bled into Álvaro Díaz’s emo-trap rock “Quién te quiere como el nene.”
Traditional pop vocal album went to Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Kany García for her album, “García.” And Draco Rosa won pop/rock album for his 2024 record, “Reflejos de Lo Eterno.”
It's a big year: the three-hour award show is celebrating its 25th anniversary, held at the Kaseya Center in Miami, in a time when Latin music genres have never been bigger globally. It is airing live on Univision, UniMás, Galavisión and ViX.
Édgar Barrera — the producer and songwriter known for his work with such artists as Madonna, Karol G, Peso Pluma, Shakira, Grupo Frontera and beyond — leads the 2024 Latin Grammy nominations for a second year in a row. This year, he’s up for nine awards; last year he received 13 nominations and won three.
Barrera is nominated for producer, songwriter, record and album of the year. He’s also nominated twice in the best Regional Mexican song category, and three times in the song of the year category, for his work on Shakira and Grupo Frontera’s “Entre Paréntesis”, Karol G’s “Mi Ex Tenía Razón,” and Maluma and Carin León’s “Según Quién.”
Just behind Barrera are some of his collaborators, like Karol G and Bad Bunny. Those giants of reggaetón and beyond are tied with eight nominations each.
Colombian songwriter Keityn has six nods.
Other performers at this year’s bash will include Barrera, Residente, Anitta, Becky G, Grupo Frontera, Pitbull, Luis Fonsi and many more.
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
