Juanes, Ricky Martin Top Billboard Latin Awards

Posted in News on May 4, 2004

BMI songwriter/artists Juanes and Ricky Martin were among the top winners at the 2004 Billboard Latin Music Awards held April 29 at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida. The awards, which honor the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, were part of the four-day 15th Annual Billboard Latin Music Conference.

Juanes	Ricky Martin	Celia Cruz

Colombian superstar Juanes took home three awards including the prestigious Songwriter of the Year title, as well as Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year/Duo and Hot Latin Track of the Year/Vocal Duo for "Fotografia," a duet with Nelly Furtado. Ricky Martin, who also won three awards, took home the Latin Pop Album of the Year trophy for Almas del Silencio, his first Spanish-language album in five years. Lead single "Tal Vez" was honored as Hot Latin Track of the Year and Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year.

Akwid	Conjunto Primavera

The late Celia Cruz was named Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year for her final studio album, Regalo del Alma. Released a few weeks after her death last July, she recorded the set during the last stages of her battle with cancer.

"It's an outstanding achievement for Celia Cruz to be named Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year...an honor that is a splendid acknowledgement of her lifetime of creative achievement," said BMI President and CEO Frances Preston. "Celia distilled the magic, passion and exuberance of Latin music into every note she sang."

Regalo del Alma also earned the legendary artist an award for Tropical Album, Female, and her Hits Mix won Top Latin Greatest Hits Album.

Other multiple winners included newcomers Akwid, regional Mexican group Conjunto Primavera and salsa princess India, with two awards each. BMI Mexican group Banda El Recodo was honored with the Billboard Hall of Fame Award, recognizing the band's 65 years of active professional life, and BMI singer/songwriter Soraya was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for her work advocating awareness and a cure for breast cancer.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards are determined by the actual sales and radio airplay data from Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems that informs Billboard's weekly charts during a one-year period from the issue dated February 15, 2003 through February 7, 2004.

BMI's 2004 Billboard Latin Music Award Winners:

Juanes
Songwriter of the Year
Hot Latin Track of the Year, Vocal Duet: "Fotografia"
Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, Duo Or Group: "Fotografia"

Ricky Martin
Hot Latin Track of the Year: "Tal Vez"
Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, Male: "Tal Vez"
Latin Pop Album of the Year, Male: Almas Del Silencio

Akwid
Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year: Proyecto Akwid
Regional Mexican Album of the Year, New Artist: Proyecto Akwid

Conjunto Primavera
Hot Latin Tracks Artist of the Year
Regional Mexican Airplay Track of the Year, Male Group: "Una Vez Mas"

India
Tropical Airplay Track of the Year, Female: "Seduceme"
Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year: "Seduceme/Seduce Me Now" (Remixes)

A.B. Quintanilla III Presents Kumbia Kings
Latin Pop Album of the Year, Duo Or Group: 4

Fabian Gomez
Regional Mexican Airplay Track of the Year, New Artist: "Y Como Quieres Que Te Quiera"

Gloria Estefan
Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, Female: "Hoy"

Grupo Montez De Durango
Regional Mexican Album of the Year, Male Duo or Group: De Durango A Chicago

Jennifer Lopez
Latin Dance Single of the Year: "I'm Glad" (Paul Oakenfold Remix)

Jorge Luis Cabrera
Regional Mexican Airplay Track Of The Year, Male Solo Artist: "Quedate Callada"

Luis Miguel
Latin Tour of the Year

Ozomatli
Latin Rock/Alternative Album of the Year: Coming Up (EP)

Tiziano Ferro (SIAE)
Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, New Artist: "Alucinado"

SOURCENews TAGS Dance Latin Pop Billboard Latin Conference Akwid Artists Conjunto Primavera Gloria Estefan India Juanes Jennifer Lopez Luis Miguel Paul Oakenfold Ozomatli Frances Preston A.B. Quintanilla III Soraya