Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year

The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year is an award presented annually by the Latin Recording Academy, the same organization that distributes the Latin Grammy Awards, to commend musicians for their "artistic achievements in the Latin music industry as well as their humanitarian efforts".^[1] Award recipients are honored during "Latin Grammy Week", a string of galas just prior to the annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony.^[2] Until 2023, the award was only presented to artists of Ibero-American heritage, when Laura Pausini became the first Italian artist to be presented with the honor.^[3]

The award was first presented to Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan in 2000 for increasing public awareness of Latin music.^[4] Eight years later his wife, singer Gloria Estefan, became the first female award recipient.^[5] She had previously received the MusiCares Person of the Year award in 1994, a similar honor presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the same organization that distributes the Grammy Awards.^[6]

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias received the second award in 2001. Ranchera singer Vicente Fernández won the award in 2002 for donating ticket proceeds to the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund.^[7] Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil received the award the following year. The 2004 award went to Carlos Santana, who founded the Milagro Foundation in 1998 with his wife, which "supports young people involved in the arts, health and education".^[8] Mexican singer José José, known as the "Prince of Song", received the award in 2005.^[9] Puerto Rican entertainer Ricky Martin received the award in 2006 after his foundation launched the People for Children project, which works to eliminate human trafficking.^[10] Juan Luis Guerra, known for popularizing merengue and bachata music, received the award the following year for founding a non-profit organization that has helped build hospitals, churches and recreation centers in the Dominican Republic.^[11][12] The 2009 award recipient, Juan Gabriel, is known for donating concert proceeds to his favorite children's foster homes and for founding Semjase, an orphanage for approximately 120 children.^[2] Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo received the 2010 award for founding Operalia, The World Opera Competition (an annual international voice competition), for raising millions of dollars through benefit concerts for disaster victims, for helping to establish a hospital in Lerma, Mexico State, and for additional goodwill efforts.^[13] The Person of the Year gala, along with the Lifetime Achievement and the Trustees awards, was not presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[14]

Since its inception, the award has been presented to musicians originating from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Panama, Italy, and the United States.

Year[I]	Image	Recipient	Lifetime	Nationality	Ref.
2000		Emilio Estefan	b. 1953	Cuba United States	[4] [15][self-published source]
2001		Julio Iglesias	b. 1943	Spain	[16] [17][self-published source]
2002		Vicente Fernández	1940-2021	Mexico	[7] [18]
2003		Gilberto Gil	b. 1942	Brazil	[19] [20]
2004		Carlos Santana	b. 1947	Mexico United States	[8] [21]
2005		José José	1948-2019	Mexico	[9] [22]
2006		Ricky Martin	b. 1971	Puerto Rico United States	[10] [23]
2007		Juan Luis Guerra	b. 1957	Dominican Republic	[11] [24]
2008		Gloria Estefan	b. 1957	Cuba United States	[5] [15]
2009		Juan Gabriel	1950-2016	Mexico	[2] [25]
2010		Plácido Domingo	b. 1941	Spain	[13] [26]
2011		Shakira	b. 1977	Colombia	[27]
2012		Caetano Veloso	b. 1942	Brazil	[28]
2013		Miguel Bosé	b. 1956	Spain Italy Colombia Panama	[29]
2014		Joan Manuel Serrat	b. 1943	Spain	[30]
2015		Roberto Carlos	b. 1941	Brazil	[31]
2016		Marc Anthony	b. 1968	United States	[32]
2017		Alejandro Sanz	b. 1968	Spain	[33]
2018		Maná Fher Olvera Alex Gonzalez Sergio Vallín Juan Calleros	1986–present b.1959 b.1969 b.1972 b.1962	Mexico United States	[34]
2019		Juanes	b. 1972	Colombia	[35]
2020	No award due to the COVID-19 pandemic				[14]
2021		Rubén Blades	b. 1948	Panama	[36]
2022		Marco Antonio Solís	b. 1959	Mexico	[3]
2023		Laura Pausini	b. 1974	Italy	[37]
2024		Carlos Vives	b. 1961	Colombia	[38]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to an article about the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony of that year.