The following is a list of events and releases that happened in 2018 in Latin music. The list covers events and releases from Latin regions including Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
Events
JanuaryâÂÂMarch
AprilâÂÂJune
- April 4The music video of "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee becomes the first YouTube video to reach five billion views on the site.
- April 10"Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber reaches an unprecedented 50th week at number one on Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart.
- April 23The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that revenue for the Latin music market in the United States rose 37% in 2017, totaling in $243 million amounting to 2.8 percent of the market in the country. Streaming was noted as the primary factor for the rise in revenue for the Latin music market.
- April 24 The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reports that revenue for the Latin music market in Latin America increased 17.7% in 2017, denoting online streaming as the primary factor for its rise. Physical albums revenue declined 41.5%.
- "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is the second best-selling digital single of 2017 in the world, with 24.3 million sales plus track-equivalent streams.
- April 26The 25th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards are held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee is the biggest winner with eight awards.
- Puerto Rican singer Ozuna wins Artist of the Year.
- "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber wins Hot Latin Song of the Year.
- Fénix by Nicky Jam wins Top Latin Album of the Year.
- April 28Mexican group Calibre 50 and Colombian singer J Balvin receive an award by streaming service Pandora Radio for being the first artists to surpass a billion streams each in that platform.
JulyâÂÂSeptember
- July 2Colombian singer J Balvin and Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny achieve their first number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 through "I Like It" with American rapper Cardi B. They become the first Latin artists to top the chart since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2017.
- July 10Nielsen SoundScan publishes the Latin mid-year chart for the United States and reports that streaming activity has increased in comparison to the first half of 2017, while album and digital single sales decreased.
- Odisea by Puerto Rican singer Ozuna is the best-performing album, with 313,000 sales plus track- and stream-equivalent units.
- CNCO by CNCO is the best-selling album, with 17,000 copies sold.
- "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is the best-selling single, with 246,000 downloads sold; the most-streamed song, with 308,980,000 audio and video streams combined; the most-streamed audio, with 119,802,000 streams; and the most-streamed video, with 189,178,000 streams.
- July 15 American singer Nicky Jam performs "X" and "Live It Up", the latter together with American rapper Will Smith and Kosovo Albanian singer Era Istrefi, during the FIFA World Cup closing ceremony.
OctoberâÂÂDecember
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
Unknown dates
Best-selling records
Best-selling albums
The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums (including album-equivalent units) in the United States in 2018, according to Billboard.
Best-performing songs
The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 2018, according to Billboard.
Deaths
- January 8Cuco Del Cid, 73, Mariachi musical director
- January 9Joel AlanÃÂs (47), rock músician; sclerosis.
- January 13Francisco Jesús Pérez Cuevas, 48, Spanish musician
- January 15Carlos Puig Premión, 64, Cuban orchestra director
- January 16Madalena Iglésias, 78, Portuguese actress and singer.
- January 17:
- Augusto Polo Campos, 85, Peruvian composer.
- Tony Taño, Cuban orchestra director
- January 18Perico Lino, 86, Spanish singer and member of
- March 2Jesús López Cobos, 78, Spanish conductor, cancer.
- March 7Mayra Mayra, 54, Puerto Rican merengue singer
- March 10Lena Villarreal, 38, Nicaraguan American event producer
- March 14Pijuán, 75, Puerto Rican pianist.
- March 24José Antonio Abreu, 78, Venezuelan conductor and founder of El Sistema and recipient of the Latin Grammy Trustees Award
- April 16Dona Ivone Lara, 97, Brazilian singer and composer.
- April 19Graciela Agudelo, 72, Mexican pianist and composer.
- April 28Roberto Angleró, 88, Puerto Rican music composer and singer.
- May 14Gustavo Márquez, Venezuelan bassist for C4 Trio
- May 18Anthony Cruz, Puerto Rican-American salsa singer ("Dile a ÃÂl" and "No le Temas a ÃÂl").
- May 28
- MarÃÂa Dolores Pradera, 93, Spanish singer and actress, recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
- , 64, Venezuelan singer-songwriter (Adrenalina Caribe), shot.
- May 31, 98, Dominican merengue singer, recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
- June 6Jimmy Gonzalez, 67, American Tejano singer, fronted Grupo Mazz and a four-time Grammy Award winner.
- June 15Santos Blanco, 46, Spanish musician, dancer, and actor
- June 19
- Efrén EcheverrÃÂa, 86, Paraguayan musician, composer, and record collector
- June 24
- ÃÂngel Medardo Luzuriaga, 82, Ecuadorian Andean cumbia musician
- Xiomara Alfaro, 88, Cuban opera singer
- July 2Daniel Sais, 55, Argentine keyboardist for Soda Stereo
- July 9Jorge Valenzuela, 22, Regional Mexican singer
- July 28, 70, Mexican Venezuelan singer and composer
- August 7Carlos Almenar Otero, 92, Venezuelan singer and songwriter.
- August 15Fabio Melannitto, 32, Venezuelan singer and member of Uff!
- September 7Wilson Moreira, 81, Brazilian singer
- September 9Mr. Catra, 49, Brazilian musician (stomach cancer)
- September 14Carlos Rubira Infante, 96, Ecuadorian pasillo and pasacalle singer-songwriter
- September 18Carmencita Lara, 91, Peruvian singer
- September 24
- , 80, Argentine folk singer
- Vicente Bianchi, 98, Chilean conductor, composer and pianist
- September 26Tito Madi, 89, Brazilian singer and composer
- September 30ÃÂngela Maria, 89, Brazilian singer
- October 1Jerry González, 69, American bandleader and trumpeter (heart attack)
- October 6Montserrat Caballé, 85, Spanish opera singer, Grammy winner (1968), gallbladder infection.
- October 8, 28, Venezuelan singer
- October 18Raúl Marrero, 92, Puerto Rican salsa musician and composer
- October 19José Capel, Spanish singer and composer
- October 22Al Hurricane, 81, American singer and songwriter, complications from prostate cancer.
- October 27Enrique "Neto" Gonzalez, Mexican indie producer and sound engineer, auto accident
- November 2Roy Hargrove, 49, American jazz trumpeter, Grammy winner (1997, 2002), cardiac arrest.
- November 13
- Lucho Gatica, 90, Chilean bolero singer and actor
- Arthur Maia, 56, Brazilian composer and musician (heart attack)
- December 13, 33, Colombian rapper
- December 16Chiquetete, 70, Spanish flamenco and ballad singer, heart attack ("Esta CobardÃÂa", "Volveré").
- December 24Jaime Torres, 80, Argentine charango player.
- December 25, 61, Brazilian guitarist and songwriter (Blitz).
- December 27Miúcha, 81, Brazilian singer and composer
References