The longest-tenured awards show solely focused on Latin Music, the Billboard Latin Music Awards is now in its 30th year, and there are a ton of big names on tap to match the occasion. Here are the most notable nominees and where to catch the ceremony.
The Nominees for the 30th Latin Music Awards
Where the Latin Music Awards diverge from some of the other honors handed out throughout the year is in the categories. Of course, Artist of the Year is the chief “all-encompassing” title handed out. However, song of the year is splintered on the basis of sales, streaming, and finally, overall popularity. When it comes to “single records,” “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma and “Bebe Dame” by Fuerza Regida & Grupo Frontera lead the way, nominated for all four of those awards. Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny’s “Unx100to” follows behind with three, as does Karol G & Shakira’s “TQG.”
In terms of honors given to artists for all their efforts in the past year, a lot of those same faces make repeat appearances. Bad Bunny, Fuerza Regida, Karol G, Peso Pluma & Grupo Frontera make up the field for Artist of the Year. The latter two are also in contention for New Artist of the Year alongside Bizarrap. In Crossover Artist of the Year, given to those who have made their name outside of the Latin world, there’s a similar level of star power—Justin Timberlake, Lil Jon and Sean Paul will vie for that honor.
All told, those aforementioned heavy hitters will have their names read plenty of times tonight—Peso Pluma leads with a wild 21 nominations, while Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera each earned 15. Elsewhere in the Latin Music Awards, Los Angeles Azules will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Ivy Queen, often cited as one of the progenitors of reggaeton, will be given the Icon Award.
Where to Watch the Ceremony & the Star-Filled Performances You’ll See
With most awards shows, half of the fun comes from the performances. The Latin Music Awards are no exception. No doubt the biggest name slated to grace the stage is Bad Bunny. However, he has yet to announce which song(s) he’ll be playing live in Florida. Grupo Frontera and Peso Pluma, two of the biggest new acts from the past year, are also slated. Their picks are “El Amor De Su Vida” and “Por Las Noches” being their picks, respectively. More tenured artists like El Alfa, Chiquis and, notably, Marc Anthony are on tap as well. Anthony is sharing Bad Bunny’s layer of mystique and choosing to keep his performance under wraps until the start of the show.
Stateside, the show will be broadcast live on Universo & Telemundo. For South American and Caribbean viewers, you can catch it on Telemundo Internacional. Additionally, it’ll stream live on Peacock and the Telemundo app this Thursday at 7 PM EST.
