Latin Grammy Awards 2024: Juan Luis Guerra, the triumph of the latest Latin classic eclipses the stars of urban music

Juan Luis Guerra has won the awards for Best Album and Best Recording of the Year at the 25th edition of the Latin Grammy,which was held tonight in Miami, and has been confirmed as the winner of the night. Urban music artists were favorites, but neither Karol G, nor Shakira, nor Bad Bunny, nor Residente had much of a role in an evening of nostalgia and classic Latin sounds.

At 67 years old and with more than 40 years of career, Juan Luis Guerra and his 4.40 They have eclipsed not only reggaeton, but rap, trap and electronica. They have done it with the small disk Radio Güirainspired by the old radio music stations in which they jumped from bachata to mambo, merengue or big band music: a feast of old tropical sounds.

Juan Luis Guerra has also received the award for Best Recordingwhich recognizes the most complete song of the year including composition, arrangements, production and performance. It was because of his song 23 thingsa tremendous mambo merengue for which he also received the award for Best Tropical Song. The veteran Dominican artist and his group have received a fourth award, which recognizes Best Merengue Album.

Jorge Drexler: Best Song of the Year

The other protagonist of the night has also been a veteran and well-known musician in Spain, Jorge Drexler. Their two awards have been one of the great surprises of the night, although a half surprise. The two minutes of his song Collapse have helped him win one of the 4 great prizes, that of Best Song of the Year; In addition, he has also received the award for Best Song by Singer-songwriter for it.

“This is crazy, at no time did I think I was going to win it,” said this 60-year-old musician who learned to surprise everyone two decades ago when he won the Oscar for On the other side of the river. “The shortlist of composers in which this little song was found is so incredible that I can only thank the Academy forr get rid of imposter syndrome“added Drexler. The veteran Uruguayan singer-songwriter living in Madrid has very emotionally dedicated both awards to his father, who died 11 days ago, as he explained from the stage.

Failure of Spanish music

He Spanish music fiasco It has been tremendous. Our artists had 15 nominations, but one after another they have been losing except Pastori Girlwho has achieved the sixth Latin Grammy of his career. “I’m happy, but I can’t help but remember the people of my country, especially Valencia, who have suffered a very strong thing with DANA,” he said from the stage. “A big kiss for my people from Valencia, for all the people who have been watching and fighting, we are a country of solidarity and this Latin Grammy is for them.”

Also Alejandro Sanz He had a memory as a presenter when he asked for “a solidarity applause for our people in Spain, who we know are going through a terrible time.”

Niña Pastori has shared the award with the Mexican Lila Downs and the Argentine Soledad, with whom she recorded the album Root I never left. The album is the continuation of the one that the three singers recorded a decade ago (Root) and with which they received precisely the same award, the Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album of 2014.

Apart from Niña Pastori, the other nominated Spanish artists 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. They all have lost. In the category of Best Flamenco Album the guitarist Antonio Rey has prevailed over Vicente Amigo and the Las Migas group. It is the second time that the Madrid guitarist has achieved this award.

In the Latin Grammy nominations, the music of our country had 14 options, compared to 44 from Colombia, 32 from Mexico or 31 from Puerto Rico. Only one of those options was for the big 4 (Best Album, Recording, Song and New Artist), but Inigo Quintero she lost to the Colombian Ela Taubert.

Nathy Peluso, Kany García and Edgar Barrera

Nathy Peluso She has won three awards and a resounding feeling of triumph because in some of them she was not the favorite at all. The most obvious of all, that of Best Rap Songwhere he competed with Bad Bunny, Eladio Carrión, Al2 El Aldeano, Vico C and Akapellah. He has also won the award for Best Alternative Song for The day I lost my youthincluded on your album Fat. The song came about early one night, Peluso explained in his gratitude. “I had lost what moved me the most: my hopes and desire. Then I said to myself: ‘I have to recover.’ And the best way to save ourselves is music, making it and listening to it. For me, music has always been my path , my faith,” he stated. Then, he concluded, he decided to “write a prophecy and recover youth, innocence and freedom”, and thus came out this award song that summarizes the achievement that is Fat.

Previously, Nathy Peluso won the award for Best Long Version Music Video, which in a charming speech ended by thanking herself: “Thank you for getting me out of where I was and daring so much”said.

In a very distributed Latin Grammy (there are 58 awards no less) Kany Garcia It has been one of the revelations. The Puerto Rican singer has won the awards for Best Singer-Songwriter Song and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. With a career spanning two decades, he arrived at the Latin Grammys with his ninth album, Garcíaon a night that could have been great for music Puerto Ricosince two of the favorites to win were Bad Bunny and Resident. However, they have only won one prize each, which is quite minor. Far better Luis Fonsiother classicrecognized for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Karol Gthe winner of the 2023 edition of the Latin Grammys and with eight nominations this year, had to console itself with the award for Best Urban Music Album with the expanded reissue of Tomorrow will be nice. Shakirafor its part, came up blank: not a prize, unless we consider Tiësto’s remix of the Bzrp Session 53which won Best Latin Electronic Music Performance.

Edgar Barrera is another of the winners of the day. The prodigious man in the shadow of numerous Latin mega-hits arrived at this 25th edition of the Latin Grammys with 21 awards already in his career and as the artist with the most nominations, nine in total. As happened in 2023, he has been recognized with the awards for Best Producer and Best Composer of the year. In addition, it won the award for Best Regional Mexican Song for the song On the contrary of Grupo Firme and Grupo Frontera.

A gala full of performances

The gala has literally unfolded as a showcase of current Latin music. Modern and classic artists have been represented, groundbreaking music and other music that appeals to nostalgia, and all nationalities and ages have taken the stage. In a hyperventilated showinstead of there being 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 is ephemeral, because they barely had time to sing for a couple of minutes.

That has happened to Quevedowhich in a minute and a half linked Columbia y Standand for home. Very outstanding has been the performance of David Bisbalwhich has offered a resounding version of The sad by José José together with the Mexican Carlos Rivera, a ballad in which he has been determined and powerful.