Latin Grammy Awards 2021

The biggest night of Latin music took place in Las Vegas today, and artists from multiples genres and countries were honored with Latin Grammy Awards.

Below is a list of the winners of nine select categories. A complete list of winners in all 53 categories can be found here.

Record of the year

“Talvez,” Caetano Veloso and Tom Veloso 

Best Pop Song

“Vida De Rico,” Édgar Barrera and Camilo, songwriters (Camilo)

Song of the year

“Patria y Vida,” Descemer Bueno, El Funky, Gente De Zona, Yadam González, Beatriz Luengo, Maykel Osorbo and Yotuel, songwriters (Yotuel, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, El Funky)

Album of the year

Salswing!,” Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Best Urban Music Album

“El Último Tour Del Mundo,” Bad Bunny

Best Tropical Song

“Dios Así Lo Quiso,” Camilo, David Julca, Jonathan Julca, Yasmil Marrufo and Ricardo Montaner, songwriters (Ricardo Montaner, Juan Luis Guerra)

Best singer-songwriter album

“Seis,” Mon Laferte

Best Mariachi / Ranchera Music Album

“A Mis 80’s,” Vicente Fernández 

Best New Artist

Juliana Velásquez

See the list in Spanish here. Read more about today’s awards here.

Ruben Blades, third from right, Roberto Delgado, right, and his orchestra accept the award for album of the year for "Salswing!" while holding up the flag of Panama.

The Latin Recording Academy celebrated its Person of the Year, Rubén Blades, awarding him the Latin Grammy for Best Album of the Year.

Blades was competing for the award with artists such as Pablo Alborán, C. Tangana, Paula Arenas, Bad Bunny, Camilo, Nana Caymmi, Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade.

The artist, who is from Panama, was chosen as Person of the Year for his contributions to music, his altruistic work and social justice work, according to the Academy.

Yotuel, center, accepts the award for Song of the Year.

“Patria y Vida” just won the 2021 Latin Grammy for Song of the Year, one of the most important awards of the night.

The song has become an anthem of anti-government protests in Cuba and, earlier in the night, it was awarded the Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song.

This category awards the songwriters. In this case, the Latin Grammy will go to Descemer Bueno, El Funky, Gente De Zona, Yadam González, Beatriz Luengo, Maykel Osorbo and Yotuel.

The accolade came shortly after the artists took the stage for an acoustic version of the song. The singers were introduced by Gloria Estefan.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena was lit up with the cell phones of the attendees who filled the event space.

In his speech, Yotuel thanked the courage of his Cuban mother and the mothers of the rest of Latin America. The artists led the audience in a cant of “Patria y Vida.”

One of the composers of the song, Maykel Osorbo, is currently in jail in Cuba after clashing with the police. Supporters say he is being punished for helping write the song and for his advocacy. 

CNN’s Patrick Oppmann contributed reporting to this post.

Danna Paola performs onstage with the message “Ni una más” (not one more) on screen behind her.

Mexican singer Danna Paola performed a special version of her hit “Calla Tú” to denounce the shocking rate of femicide in her country.

During the last seconds of the song, the phrase “Ni una más” (not one more) was displayed multiple times behind her. The phrase is the slogan of the grassroots movement against gender-based attacks and murders in Mexico.

Milly Quezada rinde homenaje a Johnny Ventura durante la transmisión.

La merenguera dominicana Milly Quezada rindió tributo a Johnny Ventura.

El cantante, una leyenda del merengue, falleció en julio a los 81 años.

El “Caballo Mayor,” como también era conocido, es uno de los cantautores más queridos de la República Dominicana y sus piezas también formaron parte del repertorio de otros grandes artistas iberoamericanos.

Tras su fallecimiento se decretaron tres días de duelo en el país.

Lee más en el live blog de CNN en Español.

From left, Randy Malcom and Alexander Delgado of Gente de Zona, Yotuel, Descemer Bueno and El Funky perform "Patria y Vida."

Descemer Bueno, el Funky, Gente de Zona, and Yotuel just performed “Patria y Vida,” a song that has become the anthem of the opposition protests in Cuba.

Surrounded on stage by white candles, the artists called for freedom on the island and said they dedicated the song to the Cuban people and political prisoners. Emilio Estefan could be seen holding a Cuban flag in the audience.

Earlier in the night, the song was awarded the Latin Grammy for best urban composition, leading the song’s composers to dedicate the award to freedom of expression in Cuba.

The song, which is a twist on Fidel Castro’s slogan of “Patria o Muerte,” Fatherland or Death in Spanish, blasts repression in Cuba.

The island’s communist-run government has banned the song from the airwaves there. But during widespread protests in July, protestors chanted the song’s lyrics at police and carried signs that read “Patria y Vida,” Fatherland and Life.

One of the composers of the song, rapper Maykel Osorbo, is currently in jail in Cuba after clashing with the police. Supporters say he is being punished for helping write the song and for his advocacy. 

Read more about the song here.

CNN’s Patrick Oppmann contributed reporting to this post.

Juliana Velasquez accepts the award for Best New Artist.

Colombian singer-songwriter Juliana Velásquez won the Best New Artist award, one of the most contested and watched categories of the evening.

As she took the stage, Velásquez sang “Joaquin,” a song she wrote to honor the victims of the deadly Hurricane Iota, which devastated parts of Colombia and Nicaragua last year. 

“Colombia, this is yours,” she said in Spanish.

Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G just won the Latin Grammy for Best Reggaeton Performance for her hit song “Bichota.”

The singer, who is currently touring across the United States, did not attend the awards show.

Christina Aguilera performs onstage during the show.

Christina Aguilera performed at the Latin Grammys for the first time since the inaugural show in 2000.

She performed “Pa Mis Muchachas” alongside Nicki Nicole, Nathy Peluso and Becky G. 

From left, Nicki Nicole, Nathy Peluso, Christina Aguilera and Becky G perform together.

At the awards show more than 20 years ago, Aguilera performed a Spanish version of “Genie in a Bottle” and “Contigo en la Distancia.”

Residente estaba tan nervioso al subir al escenario que no pudo esconder su emoción al entregarle el premio de Persona del Año a Rubén Blades.

“Me enseñaste que el arte va por encima de todas las cosas,” le dijo.

“Eres mi mentor, mi maestro, mi amigo, eres como un padre para mí,” agregó Residente.

Lee el discurso completo del puertorriqueño:

Lee más en el live blog de CNN en Español.