Daddy Yankee is on three awards calendars at once. On Oct. 22 his Bizarrap session is a finalist at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. On Nov. 11 the Latin Recording Academy honors him as its 2026 Person of the Year at a gala in Las Vegas. On Nov. 12 the 27th Latin Grammy Awards telecast puts the same session up for two trophies.
The honor looks back
The Academy announced on April 7 that Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, known as Daddy Yankee, is its 2026 Person of the Year. The tribute is a private gala on Wednesday, Nov. 11, as part of Latin Grammy Week, and it will include international artists and close friends performing versions of his best-known songs. Academy CEO Manuel Abud said: "Daddy Yankee has been a defining force in the global rise of Latin music."
The Academy's own biography gives the numbers behind that sentence. Barrio Fino (2004) sold more than eight million copies and spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. He was the first reggaeton performer to tour internationally, in more than 29 countries. "Despacito," which he made with Luis Fonsi and Erika Ender, spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and 56 weeks atop Hot Latin Songs, with more than 8.9 billion streams, according to the Academy.
The nominations look at one song
The recording in the running is "Daddy Yankee: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 0/66," made with Bizarrap. The Academy announced the nominees on Sept. 16, and the session is a finalist for Best Urban Performance and Best Urban Song. It came out in early November 2025, and El Nuevo Día reported more than six million YouTube views within hours of its release.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards, on Oct. 22 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, list the same session as a finalist for Latin Rhythm Song of the Year, according to Latin Times. The ceremony airs on Telemundo and Peacock.
A comeback that did not start on the urban charts
After Legendaddy in March 2022, Daddy Yankee announced his retirement. In July 2025 he signed with Zarpazo Records, a division of Hybe Latin America, and announced his return. "Sonríele," released July 10, 2025, led to Lamento en Baile on Oct. 16, 2025: 19 tracks, titled after Psalm 30:11 ("You have turned my mourning into dancing"), and described as Latin Christian, Latin pop and merengue.
His label says "Sonríele" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Latin Airplay chart in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico, his 29th No. 1 on Billboard's Latin charts. That is the label's count. On Billboard's Christian charts, the song peaked at No. 11 on Hot Christian Songs and the album at No. 15 on Top Christian Albums.
What the lists show
In the four urban-field categories we checked at the Latin Grammys (Reggaeton Performance, Urban Performance, Urban Music Album and Urban Song), Daddy Yankee's name appears twice, both times for the Bizarrap session. It does not appear for Lamento en Baile. That observation is ours; neither the Academy nor Billboard has said anything about it.
The dates to watch are Oct. 22 (Billboard, Telemundo and Peacock, 8 p.m. ET), Nov. 11 (the Academy's private tribute gala) and Nov. 12 (the Latin Grammy telecast on Univision from the MGM Grand Garden Arena).
Photo: still from the video "THE KINGDOM Parte 3 (Live)" by Daddy Yankee (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons; cropped.
