Rosalía wins Latin Grammy Album of the Year for a third time, and calls Lux “a leap into the void”

Rosalía has won Album of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards for the third time, taking the prize for Lux at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday night US time (Friday afternoon AWST).

A tearful Rosalía told the audience that “this album is my truth”, describing the record as a leap into the void and saying she believed in speaking one’s own truth. She had opened the show with a medley from Lux, performed with dancers on a cloud-like stage.

She also won Song of the Year for La Perla, a prize shared with the Mexican-American group Yahritza Y Su Esencia, who joined her on stage. The win came despite some critics questioning whether the Spanish artist’s song was eligible in the category.

Who else won the big prizes?

Argentine rapper and singer Milo J won Record of the Year for Niño, and performed with composer Gustavo Santaolalla. Colombian singer Aria Vega won Best New Artist, a category now limited to artists with fewer than three albums or 25 singles.

Karol G won Best Urban Music Album for Tropicoqueta and performed with a full orchestra and 12 mariachis. Juanes took Best Pop/Rock Album for Juanesteban, and Brazil’s Anitta won in the Portuguese-language contemporary pop category, using her speech to highlight Black culture in Brazil.

Why does Daddy Yankee’s award matter?

Because of the genre he came from. Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican star behind Gasolina, was named the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year, the first artist from Latin urbano music to receive the honour. Janet Jackson presented it. He performed a run of his hits with guests including Bizarrap, Feid, French Montana and LL Cool J, and closed his speech with a message about Puerto Rico: “Puerto Rico is not small. The map is small.”

Past Persons of the Year have come from pop, rock and ballad traditions. Giving the honour to one of reggaeton’s best-known pioneers puts a genre once born in Puerto Rico’s underground at the top table of Latin music.

What does it mean for Rosalía?

Lux has now carried her into a small group: three Album of the Year wins from three eligible studio albums since 2018. Her Latin Grammy streak sits alongside a career built outside the usual pop machinery, singing in Spanish and Catalan and moving between flamenco, reggaeton and experimental pop. The night also paid tribute to the Mexican songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez and to salsa trombonist Willie Colón, who died in February, with his son Miguel Colón among the performers.