Colombian singer Karol G poses with her Album of the Year and Urban Music Best Album awards during the 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony at the Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES) in Sevilla on Nov. 16, 2023. The Annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony takes place for the first time out of thevUS, gathering the most popular artists of the Latin world at the Conference and Exhibition Center (FIBES) in Sevilla. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP
SEVILLE, Spain—Colombian singer Karol G won the coveted Album of the Year award for her LP “Manana sera bonito” on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Latin Grammy Awards, the first ever held outside the United States.
“To have the Album of the Year is too (great),” she said as she was presented with the gramophone trophy on stage in the Spanish city of Seville.
“This album changed my life.”
Also competing in the category were past Latin Grammy winners Ricky Martin and Andres Cepeda, as well as Pablo Alboran, Paula Arenas, Camilo, Juanes, Natalia Lafourcade, Fito Paez and Carlos Vives.
The 32-year-old singer won two other awards at the gala, including Best Urban Music Album for “Mañana será bonito” and Best Urban Performance for “Tqg,” on which she collaborated with fellow Colombian star Shakira.
Shakira also won three awards, two for her collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap on “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” which was crowned Song of the Year and Best Pop Song.
The track has been played almost 1.5 billion times on Spotify and YouTube, with Shakira describing it as a “great outlet” following her breakup with former footballer Gerard Pique.
Natalia Lafourcade, who holds the title for most Latin Grammys in history, added more awards to her record-breaking list with record of the year.
Edgar Barrera, who began the night as a favorite with 13 nominations, had to settle for three awards: composer of the year (a category awarded for the first time), producer of the year and best regional Mexican song. That award came for the composition “un X100to”, the collaboration between his protégés, Grupo Frontera, and the superstar Bad Bunny.
The Spanish and Portuguese-language music awards have been presented by the Latin Recording Academy since 2000.—With a report from The Associated Press