THE HISTORY OF LATIN POP

Photo Credit: Allure

Latin pop artists are taking over the world – Bad Bunny has been the most listened-to Spanish-speaking artist in the world since 2020, with 68 million monthly listeners on Spotify, whilst Shakira’s 30-year career shows no signs of slowing down. And Luis Fonsi’s ‘Despacito’ remains the second-most viewed music video of all time on YouTube, with over 8.4 billion views (beaten only by Baby Shark.)

But what are the origins of Latin pop, who are the biggest names in Latin pop music history and why is Latin pop music so popular? We’ve got everything you need to know about Latin pop music style and its impact over the decades.

What Is Latin Pop a Mix Of?

The origins of Latin pop – and its global takeover – can be found in the work of bandleader Sergio Mendes in the mid-1960s, and Tito Puente, known as the ‘King of Latin jazz’ in the 1950s. Puente put a big band spin on traditional Latin dances and mixed Latin sounds with jazz and other genres over the course of his five-decade career, popularising everything from cha-cha to merengue, bossa nova to salsa.

Other trailblazers of Latin music in mainstream pop culture included Cuban bandleader Perez ‘The King of Mambo’ Prado, who was topping the Billboard charts with hits like ‘Mambo No. 5’ in 1950, and Cuban-American actor Desi Arnaz, who brought ‘Babalú’ into millions of American living rooms when he used it as his character Ricky Ricardo’s signature song in the sitcom I Love Lucy.

Who Was the First Latin Pop Artist?

During the 1960s and 70s, Latin music began to incorporate more rock and pop elements – and the Latin music category for the Grammy Awards was created in the 1970s. The first winner for Best Latin Recording was pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri, for ‘The Sun of Latin Music’ in 1975.

It’s arguable that the first Latin pop artist was Julio Iglesias. The singer-songwriter was rocketed to stardom in Europe following his appearance for Spain in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest. ‘Gwendolyne’ might not have won, but it became a huge hit, and by 1973 Iglesias had sold 10 million albums, including albums in German, Portuguese, French and Italian. In 1981, his Spanish version of Cole Porter’s ‘Begin the Beguine’ became the first all-Spanish song to reach No. 1 on the British music charts.

Breakout English-language album 1100 Bel Air Place was released in 1984, selling four million copies in the US alone. Its eclectic mix of styles included duets with Willie Nelson and Diana Ross; Iglesias has since duetted with everyone from Dolly Parton to Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra to Luciano Pavarotti, released more than 80 albums and received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 2019.

Mexican pop star Juan Gabriel’s remarkable rags-to-riches story saw him become a hero across the Spanish-speaking world. His first big hit, ‘No Tengo Dinero’ (‘I Don’t Have Any Money’), was released in 1971 and he went on to record more than 60 albums, selling more than 100 million worldwide.

Famed for his highly emotional songs and larger than life, flamboyant performances, Juan Gabriel also covered a variety of distinctively Mexican styles, from mariachi to ranchera and banda.

Latin Music’s Crossover Kings & Queens

The evolution of Latin pop in the 1980s came courtesy of huge crossover stars such as Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin. Latin pop became the most popular form of Latin music in the US in the 80s and 90s, with New York and Miami both home to thriving Latin club scenes. Latin freestyle, dance music that was rooted in Latin rhythms but incorporated synths and drum machines, had a major influence on the rise of Latin pop.

Just think of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Dubbed ‘the Queen of Latin Pop’, Gloria Estefan helped to take traditional Latin rhythms into the US mainstream with ‘Conga’ in 1985, taken from the band’s second full-length English album, Primitive Love, which went multi-platinum.

Who was responsible for the Latin pop boom in the late 90s? Many argue that Ricky Martin’s global chart-topper, ‘The Cup of Life’, the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup could be a contender. He’d put on a show-stopping performance of the track at the 41^st Annual Grammy Awards, and then followed up his success with ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ from his first English album, Ricky Martin, in 1999, which became his first US Billboard 200 No. 1.

Martin’s success in the late 1990s is widely seen as heralding the beginning of the ‘Latin explosion’, taking Latin pop to mainstream recognition and paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve global success.

The Latin Explosion

The first standalone Latin Grammys event took place during the first year of the new millennium, in September 2000. Following in Ricky Martin and Gloria Estefan’s footsteps, internationally-known artists such as Shakira, Enriue Iglesias and Marc Anthony, who primarily sang in Spanish, recorded English-language albums, joining US-born stars such as Jennifer Lopez, at the top of the charts worldwide.

The popularity of Latin music continued to increase in the 2000s and 2010s, with reggaeton, urbano, electropop, contemporary bachata and Latin trap taking over the streaming charts – culminating in 2017’s ‘Despacito’, one of the most-streamed tracks and videos in history, which spent 16 consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts.

How Big Is Latin Pop?

In short, it’s one of the most dominant genres around the world right now. J Balvin and Bad Bunny have had a stranglehold on Spotify’s playlists since the start of the decade – the ‘King of Latin Trap’ became the first non-English-language act to become Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year. He holds the second-biggest streaming year of any artist in the platform’s history, generating over 18.5 billion streams in 2022.

Latin pop stars such as Bad Bunny have had a wider impact on culture in terms of their style. The Guardian compares his colourful mashup of streetwear and tailoring to ‘Karl Lagerfeld meets Joe Exotic’ and celebrated the idea that, ‘this fabulous peacocking upends the straightforwardly macho or romantic images used by previous generations of male Latin pop stars.’

It's definitely good for business: a report by Luminate Data found that Latin music superfans spend 30% more on music-related activities than other music superfans in the US. And Latin pop culture is increasingly shaping mainstream culture too – Colombian singer Karol G appeared on last summer’s all-conquering Barbie soundtrack and Latin pop is featured on a huge variety of TV and film soundtracks.

Latin pop shows no signs of slowing down, so check out our Latin Series collection if you want to soundtrack your next project with Latin beats. Want to find out more? Read our deep dives on the history of Latin music and how African artists have influenced Latin music, different types of Latin music genres, everything you need to know about Latin percussion instruments and more on the best-selling Latin music