This is a list of notable events in Latin music (music from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking regions of Latin America, Latin Europe, and the United States) that took place in 2017.
Events
JanuaryâÂÂMarch
- January 5Gerardo Ortiz breaks the record for most number ones by a solo artist on the Billboard Regional Mexican Songs chart. The singer placed his eight number one "Regresa Hermosa" on the January 14-dated chart, breaking the tie with Vicente Fernandez.
- January 6In their annual report, Nielsen Soundscan found that overall sales of Latin albums and digitally purchased songs decreased compared to their previous report despite a strong increase in music streaming. With the continuing pattern of increased music streams, Latin music as a whole increased by 13.6% compared to 2015, thus making Latin music the third major genre in year-over-year growth following R&B and holiday music. The report also notes the discrepancy in musical styles between the bestselling Latin albums and singles of the year.
- January 12Billboard updates the methodology for the Tropical Airplay chart to track airplay of tropical from Spanish-language radio stations Previously, the Tropical Airplay ranked the most-played songs on tropical radio stations of any genre.
- January 24Alejandro Fernández's management team files a lawsuit against fellow Mexican singer Luis Miguel in breach of a contract and not paying back the money given to Miguel for the canceled tour that was set to launch last year.
- January 31Beginning with the February 11-dated chart, Billboards Top Latin Albums, Latin Pop Albums, Regional Mexican Albums, and its Tropical Albums charts allowed catalog entry into their respective genre-specific charts; a ban the company held for over a decade.
- February 23The 29th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards are held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Major winners include CNCO, Carlos Vives, Shakira and J Balvin.
- March 15The 25th Annual ASCAP Latin Awards are held at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "Duele el Corazón" by Enrique Iglesias featuring Wisin is named Song of the Year while Joss Favela is recognized as Composer of the Year and Daddy Yankee receives the Composer/Artist of the Year award. Puerto Rican salsa group El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico receives the Latin Heritage Award and Puerto Rican-American rapper Vico C receives the Vanguard Award.
- March 22The 24th BMI Latin Awards are held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hill California. "Ginza" by J Balvin is named Contemporary Latin Song of the Year while Gocho and Motiff are recognized as Contemporary Latin Songwriters of the Year. Mexican-American group Los Lobos receives the Icon Award.
AprilâÂÂJune
JulyâÂÂDecember
- July 9Daddy Yankee becomes the most listened-to artist worldwide on streaming service Spotify, being the first Latin artist to do so.
Number-one albums and singles by country
Awards
Albums released
First quarter
January
February
March
Second quarter
April
May
June
Third quarter
July
August
September
Fourth quarter
October
November
December
Dates unknown
Best-selling records
Best-selling albums
The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums in the United States in 2017, according to Billboard.
Best-performing songs
The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 2017, according to Billboard.
Deaths
- January 1Memo Morales, 79, Venezuelan singer
- January 13Horacio Guarany, 91, Argentine folkloric singer and writer, cardiac arrest.
- January 19Loalwa Braz, 63, Brazilian singer-songwriter ("Lambada"), burns.
- January 23Bimba Bosé, 41, Italian-born Spanish model, designer, singer and actress, breast cancer.
- January 27Elkin RamÃÂrez, 54, Colombian singer-songwriter (Kraken), brain cancer.
- February 15, 73, Brazilian composer and musician
- February 25Fernando Toussaint, Mexican jazz musician and composer
- February 27Fernando Riba, 67, Mexican songwriter
- March 8Dave Valentin, 64, American Latin jazz flautist, Parkinson's disease.
- March 11ÃÂngel Parra, 73, Chilean singer and songwriter, lung cancer.
- April 7Sal Cuevas, 61, American salsa bassist
- April 13José Miguel Class, 78, Puerto Rican singer.
- April 14MartÃÂn ElÃÂas, 26, Colombian vallenato singer (traffic collision).
- April 23Jerry Adriani, 70, Brazilian singer and actor (cancer)
- April 30Belchior, 70, Brazilian singer and composer
- May 19Kid Vinil, 62, Brazilian musician and record producer
- June 14Luis Abanto Morales, 93, Peruvian singer and composer.
- June 16Eliza ClÃÂvia, 37, Brazilian singer, traffic collision.
- July 9Paquita Rico, 87, Spanish singer and actress (Let's Make the Impossible!, The Balcony of the Moon, Where Are You Going, Alfonso XII?).
- July 18José Bragato, 101, Italian-born Argentine cellist, composer, conductor and arranger (Teatro Colón).
- July 20Wilindoro Cacique, 75, Peruvian Amazonian cumbia musician (Juaneco y Su Combo), pancreatic cancer.
- July 21Juan Romero, 88, Mexican Christian singer
- August 4
- Luiz Melodia, 66, Brazilian actor, singer, and songwriter (bone marrow cancer)
- Jessy Serrata, 63, American Tejano musician, kidney cancer.
- August 19Concha Valdés Miranda, 89, Cuban composer
- August 26Wilson das Neves, 81, Brazilian percussionist and singer
- September 4Elisa Serna, 75, Spanish protest singer-songwriter, heart attack.
- September 17Laudir de Oliveira, 77, Brazilian percussionist (Sérgio Mendes, Marcos Valle, Chicago) and producer.
- October 8Coriún Aharonián, 77, Uruguayan electroacoustic music composer and musicologist
- October 17ElÃÂas Lopés, 72, Puerto Rican trumpet musician
- October 30Daniel Viglietti, 78, Uruguayan folk singer, guitarist, composer and political activist.
- November 2MarÃÂa Martha Serra Lima, 72, Argentine ballad and bolero singer
- November 17Blanquito Man, 47, Venezuelan singer
- November 28MagÃÂn DÃÂaz, 94, Colombian folk singer and songwriter, Latin Grammy winner (2017)
- December 4Carles Santos, 77, Spanish pianist and composer.
- December 23Chino Gonazalez, Argentine singer and member of
References