Latin music in the United States is defined by both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard magazine as any release with 51% or more of its content recorded in Spanish. The best performing Latin songs in the United States have been compiled by Billboard since September 1986. The magazine had already a major overall songs chart titled Hot 100 since August 1958. Since 2007, the chart has tracked digital sales, streaming figures and radio airplay. Prior to that, the Hot 100 only measured the latter format.
Ritchie Valens' version of "La Bamba" became the first Latin song to enter the Hot 100 after its debut in 1959, "Guantanamera" by the Sandpipers became the first one to reach the top 10 in 1966. Los Lobos' version of "La Bamba" became the first one to reach the number 1 spot in 1987.
In June 2017, following the number one peak of "Despacito" in the Hot 100, Philip Bump of The Washington Post related the increasing success of Spanish-language songs in the United States since 2004 with the growth of its Spanish-speaking population, highlighting an improvement from 4.9% in 1980 to 11.5% in 2015. In January 2018, Leila Cobo of Billboard related the success of "Despacito" and the increase of music consumption via streaming to the rise of predominantly Spanish-language songs charting on the Hot 100.
As of 2026, 388 Latin songs have entered the Hot 100 chart, 1 in the 1950s, 1 in the 1960s, 2 in the 1970s, 1 in the 1980s, 5 in the 1990s, 36 in the 2000s, 80 in the 2010s and 262 in the 2020s.
A total of 25 singles managed to reach the top 10 and 5 have peaked at number 1. Only 5 Latin songs reached the top 10 between 1958 and 2016.
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny is the act with the most Latin top 10 entries on the chart, with 14.
In 2008, for the 50th anniversary of the Hot 100, Billboard compiled a ranking of the 100 best-performing songs on the chart since its inception in 1958. The ranking was revised in 2013, 2015 and 2018. As of 2018, only two primarily Spanish-language songs have appeared on the top 100: "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Mix) by Los del RÃÂo, which peaked at number five on the ranking's first edition in 2008, and "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber. Additionally, Los Lobos' version of "La Bamba" ranks at number 372.