1990 in Latin music

Last updated October 25, 2025

This is a list of notable events in Latin music (music from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America, Europe, and the United States) that took place in 1990.

Events

January 10 – EMI Latin bought Bob Grever's Cara Records, beginning the golden age of Tejano music.^[1]
February 21 – The 32nd Annual Grammy Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.^[2]
- José Feliciano wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance for his rendition of "Cielito Lindo"
- Ray Barretto and Celia Cruz wins the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Performance for their album Ritmo en el Corazón
- Los Lobos wins the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance for their album La Pistola y El Corazón .
February 10 –"Lambada" by French-Brazilian group Kaoma becomes the first non Spanish-language song to top the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. The song is performed entirely in Portuguese.^[3]^[4]
May 23 – Billboard commences its first ever Latin Music Conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Miami, Florida.^[5]
May 24 – The 3rd Annual Lo Nuestro Awards are held at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. Nicaraguan singer Luis Enrique is the most awarded artist with three wins.^[6]

Bands formed

Bands reformed

Bands disbanded

Bands on hiatus

Number-ones albums and singles by country

Awards

Albums released

First quarter

January

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
4	Con El Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan	José Luis Rodríguez	Mariachi, Ranchera		CBS, CBS Discos International
15	Goza Mi Timbal	Tito Puente	Latin Jazz		Concord Picante

February

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
6	Roberto Carlos '87	Roberto Carlos	MPB, Ballad		CBS Inc.
6	Roberto Carlos '88	Roberto Carlos	MPB		Discos CBS International

March

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
6	Pegando Fuego	Las Chicas del Can	Merengue, Synth-Pop	Sonotone
	Caribe	Las Chicas del Can	Merengue	Cosmo Records
	Más Que un Loco	Wilfrido Vargas	Merengue, Salsa	Sonotone, Sonotone Latin Records
7	Invasion de la Privacidad	Eddie Santiago	Salsa	TH-Rodven
7	Rumbamania	Rumba Tres	Rumba, Disco	Red Bullet

Second quarter

April

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
13	Boca Rosa	Angela Carrasco	Bachata, Vocal, Latin	EMI
	Cae la Noche	Dyango	Ballad	EMI
	Si Estuvieras Conmigo	Álvaro Torres	Ballad	Capitol/EMI Latin
	Ese Hombres Es...	Angela Carrasco
24	Dedicado al Amor	Nelson Ned		TH-Rodven

May

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
14	El Primero	Juan Manuel Lebrón	Salsa	Capitol/EMI Latin, Leader Records
15	Vivencias	Yolandita Monge		Discos CBS International
	Dos Corazónes	Vicente Fernández and Vikki Carr
	Enamorarse	Nicola di Bari		Discos CBS International
16	Tu Amante Romántico	Paquito Guzmán	Salsa	TH-Rodven
	En Vivo Y... A Todo Color	Frankie Ruiz	Salsa	TH-Rodven, TH-Rodven
	El Eterno Enamorado	Andy Montañez	Salsa, Guaguanco	TH-Rodven, TH-Rodven
	...Es De Verdad!	David Pabón	Salsa, Guaguanco	TH-Rodven, TH-Rodven
22	Somos el Son	Raphy Leavitt y Su Orquesta La Selectra
	Musa Original	Joe Arroyo	Salsa, Compas, Cumbia, Guaracha	Discos Fuentes
	El Baile	Wilfrido Vargas	Merengue	Sonotone Latin Records
	Animation	Wilfrido Vargas	Merengue	Bat Discos
	La Tropicalisima	La Sonora Dinamita	Cumbia	Discos Fuentes

June

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
5	Garibaldi	Garibaldi		EMI
20	Aprenderé	Max Torres	Salsa	Capitol/EMI
20	Peligroso Amor	Max Torres	Salsa	Capitol/EMI Latin

Third quarter

July

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
19	Part-Time Lover	Bobby Valentín	Salsa		Bronco

August

September

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
19	El Mismo Romantico	Paquito Guzman	Salsa, Bolero, Merengue		Capitol/EMI Latin, Capitol/EMI Latin

Fourth quarter

October

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
15	Salsa Caliente Del Japón	Orquesta de la Luz	Salsa		Bat Discos, Bat Discos
15	Imágenes	Lourdes Robles	Ballad		Discos CBS International
18	Siempre Wilfrido	Wilfrido Vargas	Merengue, Bachata		Sonotone
25	Voz, Ritmo Y Sentimiento	Sophy	Ballad, Merengue, Salsa		Discos CBS International, Discos CBS International
	Etiqueta Negra	Milly y los Vecinos	Salsa, Merengue		Discos CBS International
	Acabando!	Los Hermanos Rosario	Merengue	"Borron y Cuenta Nueva" "Adolescente"	Aires
	Justo a Tiempo	Roberto Del Castillo	Merengue		Discos CBS International
	Laberinto de Amor	Yolandita Monge	Latin, Ballad, Vocal		Discos CBS International
	Banana	The Rebels			Hispavox
Unknown	Mujer contra mujer	Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo

November

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
12	Ven Conmigo	Selena	Tejano, Cumbia, Latin Pop	"Ya Ves" "Baila Esta Cumbia" "No Quiero Saber"	Capitol/EMI Latin

December

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
8	A Night at Kimball's East	Poncho Sanchez		"Jumpin' With Symphony Sid"	Concord Picante
20	Con Tanto Amor	La Mafia			CBS

Dates unknown

Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
Timeless	Little Joe	Conjunto, Tejano		Discos CBS International
Salsa con Clase	Johnny & Ray	Salsa, Guaracha	"Mascarada" "Margarita"	Polygram Latino, Polygram Latino
Amor y Alegría	Luis Enrique	Salsa		CBS
Quién como tú	Ana Gabriel	Ballad, Romantic, Vocal		CBS
Tengo Derecho a Ser Feliz	José Luis Rodríguez	Ballad		CBS Discos International, CBS
Nouveau Flamenco	Ottmar Liebert	Flamenco	"Barcelona Nights"	Higher Octave Music
Autobiografia	Duncan Dhu			Sire, Warner Bros. Records, GASA
Viti at Work	Viti Ruiz	Salsa, Cha-Cha		Capitol/EMI Latin, Capitol/EMI Latin
Lo Mío Es Amor	Tony Vega	Salsa, Guaguanco		RMM Records, RMM Records
20 Años	Luis Miguel	Bolero, Ballad, Latin Pop		WEA Latina
Color Americano	Willie Colón	Salsa		CBS
Aguita de Melon	Fito Olivares	Cumbia		Gil Records
Bandido	Azúcar Moreno	Flamenco, Euro House, Rumba	"Bandido" "A Caballo"	Epic
Punto de Vista	Gilberto Santa Rosa	Salsa	"Vivir Sin Ella" "Perdoname" "Impaciencia"	CBS Discos Latin Dance
Para Adoloridos	Los Tigres del Norte	Ranchera, Corrido, Norteno, Conjunto, Ballad		FonoVisa
Abriendo Puertas	Jerry Rivera	Salsa		CBS Discos Latin Dance
Entre Lineas	Alejandro Lerner	Ballad, Soft Rock		Ariola
Éxitos de Gloria Estefan	Gloria Estefan	Synth-Pop, Ballad	"Conga" "Regresa a Mi" "No Te Olvidaré"	CBS Discos International, CBS Discos International
En Vivo	Ana Gabriel			CBS Discos International
Pajaro Herido	Roberto Carlos	MPB, Ballad, Vocal		Discos CBS International
Para Nuestra Gente	Mazz	Tejano, Conjunto		Capitol/EMI Latin
Luces del Alma	Luis Enrique	Salsa, Vocal	"Date un Chance" "Aventura" "Amiga"	Discos CBS International
Filosofía Barata y Zapatos de Goma	Charly García	Pop Rock		Discos CBS International
Canción Animal	Soda Stereo	Pop Rock	"(En) El Septimo Dia" "Cancion Animal" "De Musica Ligera"	Discos CBS International
Mientras Ustedes No Dejen De Aplaudir	Vicente Fernández	Ranchera		CBS Discos International
Bachata Rosa	Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40	Bachata, Merengue, Salsa	"Carta de Amor" "La Bilirrubina" "Burbujas de Amor"	BMG, BMG, Karen Records, Karen Records
Cielo de Tambores	Grupo Niche	Salsa	“Una Aventura"	CBS
Amor Fasciname	Alejandra Ávalos	Ballad		WEA
Cuando Yo Amo	Rudy La Scala	Ballad, Chanson		Sonotone
Xuxa 1	Xuxa	Vocal		Globo Records
Niña	José Feliciano			Capitol/EMI Latin, Capitol/EMI Latin
Tiempo de Vals	Chayanne	Ballad		CBS Discos International
El Que Mas Te Ha Querido	David Lee Garza y los Musicales	Tejano		Capitol/EMI Latin
Las Clasicas de José Alfredo Jiménez	Vicente Fernández	Ranchera	"Camino de Guanajuato"	Discos CBS International
El Cantinero	Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15	Merengue		Top Ten Hits
Con la Musica por Dentro	Nino Segarra	Salsa	"Porque Te Amo" "Soy Tu Amante" "Como Amigo Si, Como Amante No"	Musical Productions, Musical Productions
Tito Puente Presents Millie P.	Tito Puente and Millie P.	Salsa, Descarga		CBS Discos International, CBS, RMM Records
Extranjero	Franco De Vita	Ballad		Discos CBS International
Vida	Emmanuel	Latin, Ballad		CBS, CBS Discos International
Amigo	Bronco	Cumbia, Norteno, Ballad		FonoVisa
Good Boys Wear White	La Sombra	Tejano, Polka, Cumbia, Ranchera, Ballad		Freddie Records
Milagro	Rocky Hernández	Tejano		CBS Discos Inc.
Sensual	Tito Rojas	Salsa		Musical Productions
Algo Nuevo	Anthony Cruz	Salsa		Musical Productions
Dejame Vivir	Tito Nieves	Salsa		RMM Records
Nuevo Pequeño Catálogo de Seres y Estares	El Último de la Fila	Pop Rock		Capitol/EMI Latin
Señales de Vida	Luis Angel	Ballad		CBS Discos International
En las Buenas y las Malas	José José		"Amnesia"	Ariola
Si Te Pudiera Mentir	Rocío Dúrcal	Ballad		Ariola
Homenaje	Lola Flores	Pop Rap, Flamenco		Discos CBS International
Portfolio	Yolandita Monge	Ballad		Discos CBS International
Canto a La Humanidad	Danny Rivera	Ballad		CBS, CBS Discos International
Eternamente Bella	Alejandra Guzmán	Pop Rock, Ballad		Fonovisa, Inc.
Esta Vez	José Luis Rodríguez			CBS
Nadie Como Tu	Palomo San Basilio
Nuevos Caminos	Roberto Pulido	Tejano		Capitol/EMI Latin, Capitol/EMI Latin
Misión La Cima	Vico C	Pop Rap, Merengue, Hip-House		Prime Records
Mas Canciones	Linda Ronstadt	Mariachi	"Tata Dios" "El Toro Relajo" "Siempre Hace Frio"	Elektra

Best-selling records

Best-selling albums

The following is a list of the top 5 best-selling Latin albums of 1990 in the United States in the categories of Latin pop, Regional Mexican, and Tropical/salsa, according to Billboard .^[7]

Category	Rank	Album	Artist
Latin pop	1	Quiero Amanecer con Alguien	Daniela Romo
	2	Quién Como Tú	Ana Gabriel
	3	Sonrie	Roberto Carlos
	4	Tierra de Nadie	Ana Gabriel
	5	Con El Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan	José Luis Rodríguez
Regional Mexican	1	A Todo Galope	Bronco
	2	No Te Olvidaré	Mazz
	3	Mi Buena Suerte	Los Tigres del Norte
	4	Por Tu Maldito Amor	Vicente Fernandez
	5	A Tu Recuerdo	Los Yonic's
Tropical/Salsa	1	Mi Mundo	Luis Enrique
	2	Más Grande Que Nunca	Frankie Ruiz
	3	Ojalá Que Llueva Café	Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40
	4	El Primero	Juan Manuel Lebrón
	5	El Cantinero	La Patrulla 15

Best-performing songs

The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 1990, according to Billboard.^[8]

Rank	Single	Artist
1	"El Cariño Es Como Una Flor"	Rudy La Scala
2	"Tengo Todo Excepto a Tí"	Luis Miguel
3	"Cómo Fuí a Enamorarme de Tí"	Los Bukis
4	"Quiero Amanecer con Alguien"	Daniela Romo
5	"La Cima del Cielo"	Ricardo Montaner
6	"Quién Como Tú"	Ana Gabriel
7	"Lambada"	Kaoma
8	"Burbujas de Amor"	Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40
9	"Amnesia"	José José
10	"Me Va a Extrañar"	Ricardo Montaner

Births

January 5 – Darell, Puerto Rican rapper
January 30 – Eiza González, Mexican actress and singer
February 17 – María José Quintanilla, Chilean singer
March 17 – Alice Caymmi, Brazilian singer
March 29 – Justin Quiles, Colombian reggaeton singer
July 17 – Naëla, Colombian pop singer
August 11 – María José Castillo, Costa Rican pop singer
August 24 – Juan Pedro Lanzani, Argentine pop singer and actor, former member of Teen Angels
September 25 – Edén Muñoz, Mexican performer of banda music
October 7 – Dalex, Argentine singer
October 20 – Melody, Spanish pop singer
November 29 – Diego Boneta, Mexican singer and actor
December 28 – Yago Muñoz [ es ], Mexican singer and actress

Deaths

May 16–Eduardo Mateo, Uruguayan singer, songwriter, guitarist and arranger
July 7–Cazuza, Brazilian singer and songwriter, former member of Barão Vermelho
October 27–Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American bandleader
October 28–Gervasio, Uruguayan new wave singer
December 14–Francisco Gabilondo Soler, Mexican singer and creator of Cri-Cri

References

↑ Burr, Ramiro (1999). The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music . Billboard Books.
↑ "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . Retrieved July 21, 2015.
↑ Lannert, John (28 November 1998). "Charting a Decade". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media. p. LMQ-16. ISSN 0006-2510 . Retrieved 24 July 2019.
↑ "Latin Music: Top Latin Songs - Week of February 10, 1990". Billboard. 10 February 1990. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
↑ Agudelo, Carlos (June 9, 1990). "Industry Leaders Meet at 1st Latin Music Seminar". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 23. p. 5. ISSN 0006-2510.
↑ "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
↑ "The Year in Music: 1990". Billboard. December 22, 1990. p. YE-50–. ISSN 0006-2510.
↑ "Topping The Charts Year By Year". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 28, 1998. p. LMQ3. Retrieved March 3, 2010.

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[1] Burr, Ramiro (1999). The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music . Billboard Books.

[GrammyWINNERS-2] "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . Retrieved July 21, 2015.

[3] Lannert, John (28 November 1998). "Charting a Decade". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media. p. LMQ-16. ISSN 0006-2510 . Retrieved 24 July 2019.

[4] "Latin Music: Top Latin Songs - Week of February 10, 1990". Billboard. 10 February 1990. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

[5] Agudelo, Carlos (June 9, 1990). "Industry Leaders Meet at 1st Latin Music Seminar". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 23. p. 5. ISSN 0006-2510.

[Winners-archive-6] "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.

[7] "The Year in Music: 1990". Billboard. December 22, 1990. p. YE-50–. ISSN 0006-2510.

[billboardmag-8] "Topping The Charts Year By Year". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 28, 1998. p. LMQ3. Retrieved March 3, 2010.

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