1997 in Latin music

Last updated September 14, 2025

This is a list of notable events in Latin music (i.e. music from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas Latin America, Europe, and the United States) that took place in 1997.

Events

February 26 – The 39th Annual Grammy Awards are held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.^[1]
- Enrique Iglesias wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance for his self-titled album.
- Rubén Blades wins the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance for his album La Rosa de los Vientos.
- La Mafia wins the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance for their album Un Millón de Rosas .
- Paquito D'Rivera wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance for his album Portraits of Cuba .
April 28–30 – The 8th annual Billboard Latin Music Conference is held in Miami, Florida.^[2]
- The 4th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards are also held and Colombian singer Shakira becomes the biggest winner with three wins. Mexican singer José José is inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame.
May 8 – The 9th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards are held at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias is the biggest winner with three awards.^[3]
June 21 – The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) announces the creation of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS). The organization was created to expand NARAS's operations in Latin America and Spain. Mauricio Abaroa is appointed as the executive director of LARAS.^[4]
September 5 – Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz releases his fifth studio album Más . The album would go on to become the best-selling album of all-time in Spain.^[5]
September 10 – SESAC launches its own Latin Music Awards to honor Latin songwriters signed under the publisher.^[6]

Bands formed

Frankie Negrón (salsa)
Jordi (Latin pop)

Bands reformed

Bands disbanded

Bronco

Bands on hiatus

Number-ones albums and singles by country

Awards

Albums released

First quarter

January

Day	Title	Artist	Singles	Label
14	Con Amor y Con Sabor	Fito Olivares		EMI Latin
21	Te Sigo Esperando	Brenda K. Starr	"Herida" "No Necesito"	Teen Internacional
28	La Pipa de la Paz	Aterciopelados	"No Necesito" "Platónico" "La Pipa de la Paz"	BMG Ariola De Colombia S.A.

February

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
11	Dale Aborigen	Todos Tus Muertos	Reggae, Hardcore, Punk, Dub	Todos Tus Muertos Discos
	Hands of Rhythm	Giovanni Hidalgo		RMM Records, TropiJazz
	El Maquinista	Los Rieleros del Norte
25	Me Dicen El Tirador	Ezequiel Peña	Ranchera, Mariachi	Musivisa
28	Só Prá Contrariar (1997)	Só Prá Contrariar	Samba	RCA Victor
Unknown Day	Homenaje a Los Grandes Grupos	Bronco	Cumbia, Norteno, Ballad	FonoVisa
Unknown Day	Muy Dentro de Mi Corazón	Alejandro Fernández	Mariachi	Sony Music

March

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
4	La Ultima Huella	Bronco	Cumbia, Norteno	FonoVisa
4	En Concierto, Vol. II	Los Temerarios
11	De Nueva Cuenta	Los Incomparables de Tijuana
11	Persona Ideal	Adolescent's Orquesta	Salsa	Korta Records
12	Atrapados En Azul	Ismael Serrano	Acoustic, Soft Rock	Polydor
18	Te Quiero, Te Amo, Te Extraño	Banda Los Largos
18	Aldeia	Banda Mantiqueira	Big Band	ACT World Jazz, Pau Brasil
25	Canta Conmigo (1997)	La Diferenzia		Arista Latin
	Tuya	Graciela Beltrán	Ranchera	EMI Latin
	Secada	Jon Secada	Pop Rock, Soft Rock, Downtempo	SBK Records

Second quarter

April

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
1	El Poder de New York	Raul Acosta y Oro Solido
8	Adolescente y Bonita	Grupo Pegasso
	Amor Fingido	Grupo Pegasso
	Mi Encuentro	Yolandita Monge		WEA Latina
15	Te Sigo Amando (soundtrack)	Various artists
22	Tucanes de Oro...Secuestro de Amor	Los Tucanes de Tijuana		EMI Latin
	Red Hot + Latin: Silencio = Muerte	Various artists
	Piel de Ángel	Lucero		Universal Music Latino
	Y Es Facil	Los Hermanos Rosario	Merengue	Karen Records
29	Cidades e Lendas	Zé Ramalho	MPB	Ariola
	Juntos Otra Vez	Juan Gabriel and Rocío Dúrcal
	Passion Dance	Herb Alpert	Latin Jazz, Smooth Jazz	Almo Records
	Malembe	¡Cubanismo!	Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz	Hannibal Records
	Hasta Siempre	Milly y los Vecinos	Merengue	Sony Tropical

May

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
5	Llévame Contigo	Olga Tañón	Merengue, Salsa	"Llegó el Amor" "El Frío de Tu Adiós" "Porque No Te Encontré" "Así Es el Amor" "Serpiente Mala"	WEA Latina
5	El Descreto	Kinito Méndez
13	Ginastera: The Three String Quartets	Cuarteto Latinoamericano	Modern		Elan Recordings
20	Con Amor Se Gana	Frankie Negrón	Salsa		WEACaribe, WEA Latina, Inc.
	Viviendo del Futuro	Sentidos Opuestos	Hi NRG, Synth-Pop, Euro House		EMI Latin
	Rebotando	Ilegales	Latin, Hip-House, Merengue	"El Taqui Taqui" "Sueño Contigo"	BMG U.S. Latin, Ariola
	Si Tu No Estas	Pete Astudillo	Tejano		EMI Latin
	Solo	Raúl di Blasio			Ariola
27	Palabra de Mujer	Mónica Naranjo	Europop	"Desátame" "Pantera en Libertad"	Sony Latin
	Cuando Tú No Estás	El Tri	Blues Rock, Rock & Roll	"Virgen Morena"	WEA
	Con El Machete en La Mano	Zafra Negra	Merengue		J&N Records
	De mi alma latina, Vol. 2	Plácido Domingo

June

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
3	A Pesar de Todo	Víctor Manuelle	Merengue, Salsa, Bachata	"Así Es la Mujer" "Dile a Ella" "He Tratado"	Sony Tropical, Sony Tropical
	En Tus Manos	La Mafia	Cumbia, Tejano		Sony Discos
	Un Loco Romántico	Liberación	Ranchera, Conjunto		Disa
17	IV	Intocable	Tejano	"Eres Mi Droga" "Dónde Estás?" "Vivir Sin Ellas"	EMI Latin
17	Así Es el Amor	Grupo Bryndis	Cumbia, Ballad	"Olvidemos Nuestro Orgullo" "Asi Es el Amor"	Disa, Leader Music

Third quarter

July

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
1	Por Supuesto	Milly y los Vecinos	Merengue		Discos CBS International
	Mucho barato	Control Machete		"Control Machete" "¿Comprendes Mendes?" "Asi Son Mis Dias"	PolyGram, PolyGram
	Amor a la Mexicana	Thalía	Salsa, Latin, Synth-Pop	"Por Amor" "Mujer Latina" "Amor a la Mexicana	EMI Latin
	Estatua de Marfil	Vicente Fernández	Ranchera		Columbia
	Mirame	Ana Belén	Pop Rock, Bolero		BMG U.S. Latin
	Ven Por Mi	Los Nocheros	Chacarera, Zamba		EMI 100
	Plomo revienta	Desorden Público	Ska, Merengue, Hardcore, Rocksteady, Alternative Rock, Dub		Sony Latin
8	Me Quedé Vacia	Laura Flores		"Me Quede Vacia" "El Alma No Tiene Color"	Universal
14	De Parranda Con La Banda	Banda el Recodo	Ranchera		FonoVisa
14	Desesperadamente Enamorado	Jordi			FonoVisa
15	Aqui Estoy	Jailene	Merengue		EMI Latin
29	Pa' Otro La'o	Chichí Peralta	Merengue	"Amor Narcótico" "Un Dia Mas" "Techno Son"	Caïmán Music
	Fabulosos Calavera	Los Fabulosos Cadillacs	Experimental, Ska, Salsa, Cool Jazz, Groove Metal, Avantgarde	"El Muerto" "Calaveras y Diablitos"	BMG U.S. Latin, Ariola
	El Chile Pelaiz	Grupo Exterminador	Norteno, Corrido		FonoVisa
	Norteno de Corazon	Raúl Hernandez	Norteno		Fonovisa Titanio

August

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
5	Swing On	Dark Latin Groove	Bachata, Salsa	"La Quiero a Morir" "La Soledad" "Magdalena, Mi Amor (Quimbara)"	Sony Tropical, Sergio George Entertainment
5	Seguire	Toño Rosario	Merengue		WEA Latina
12	Tengo Fe	Carlos Vives	Vallenato		EMI Latin
	Romances	Luis Miguel	Bachata		WEA Latina
	Jennifer y Los Jetz	Jennifer y Los Jetz	Tejano	"Tu Castigo" "Yo Te Vi" "¿Qué Pasó?"	EMI Latin
	Puntos Cardinales	Ana Torroja	Pop Rock		Ariola, BMG U.S. Latin
	Compas	Gipsy Kings	Flamenco		Nonesuch, Atlantic, P.E.M.
26	El Fuego de la Noche	La Barranca			Universal
	¿Dónde Jugarán las Niñas?	Molotov	Alternative Rock, Ska		Surco, Universal
	Al Frente de Todos	Mazz	Tejano, Conjunto		Capitol/EMI Latin
Unknown Day	Ser humano!!	Tiro de Gracia	Hip Hop, Conscious		EMI

September

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
2	Alta Suciedad	Andrés Calamaro	Pop Rock		Gasa
2	En Mi Imperio	Ivy Queen	Reggaeton		The House Of Music
9	Más	Alejandro Sanz	Vocal, Ballad	"Y, ¿Si Fuera Ella?" "Corazón Partío" "Amiga Mía"	Wea Latina, Inc.
	Sobre el Fuego	La India	Salsa	"Me Cansé de Ser la Otra" "Sobre el Fuego" "La Voz de la Experiencia"	RMM Records
	Tiene Que Ser Amor	Sparx	Ballad		FonoVisa
16	Buena Vista Social Club	Buena Vista Social Club	Afro-Cuban Jazz, Bolero, Danzon, Trova, Son	"Chan Chan" "De Camino a la Vereda" "Pueblo Nuevo"	Nonesuch, World Circuit
	A Toda Cuba le Gusta	Afro-Cuban All Stars	Afro-Cuban	"Alto Songo" "A Toda Cuba le Gusta"	Nonesuch, World Circuit
	Introducing...Rubén González	Rubén González	Afro-Cuban Jazz	"La Engañadora" "Almendra" "Como Siento Yo"	World Circuit, Nonesuch
22	Acústico MTV	Titãs	Pop Rock, Acoustic		WEA Music
23	Boleros: Por Amor y Desamor	Various artists
	Me Estoy Enamorando	Alejandro Fernández	Mariachi		Sony Latin
	Evolución	Boyz II Men	Soul, Contemporary R&B		Motown
	Llegaste a Mi Vida	Bobby Pulido	Tejano		EMI Latin
	Te Llevas Mi Vida	Los Mismos		"Te Llevas Mi Vida" "Que Ya Te Vas" "Soy Peor Que Nada"
	Se Necesita un Milagro	Domingo Quiñones	Salsa		RMM Records
	Susana Baca	Susana Baca	Folk		Luaka Bop
	Ya No Soy El Niño Aquel	Jerry Rivera	Salsa		Sony Tropical
30	Lo Mejor de Mí	Cristian Castro	Ballad		BMG U.S. Latin
	Una Mujer Como Yo	Albita			Crescent Moon Records, Epic
	Marco	Marco Antonio Solís	Ballad, Ranchera, Bolero, Cumbia		FonoVisa
	La 4 x 4	Banda Arkangel

Fourth quarter

October

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
7	Live Desde el Mas Allá	Baby Rasta & Gringo	Reggaeton		The House Of Music, Sony Discos
14	Sueños Líquidos	Maná	Pop Rock		Wea Latina, Inc.
21	Contra la Corriente	Marc Anthony	Salsa		RMM Records
	Sentimientos	Grupo Límite	Tejano, Norteno, Cumbia		Rodven Discos
	Los Reyes del Ritmo	La Makina	Vocal, Salsa, Merengue	"Nadie Se Muere" "Dulce Muchachita" "Can, Can, Can"	Sony Discos
28	Con un mismo corazón	Ana Gabriel	Vocal		Sony Discos
	Es Así	Ricardo Montaner	Ballad		WEA Latina
	Quiero Estar Contigo	Gisselle	Merengue	"Quiero Estar Contigo" "Atrévete"	BMG U.S. Latin, RCA
	Eros	Eros Ramazzotti	Soft Rock	"Una Historia Importante" "Cosas de la vida (Can't Stop Thinking of You)"	BMG U.S. Latin
Unknown Day	Sobrevivendo no Inferno	Racionais MC's	Gangsta, Conscious, Thug Rap		Cosa Nostra, Cosa Nostra

November

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
4	Alto Honor	Grupo Manía	Merengue	"Mirala" "Que Loco" "Corazoncito" "Me Miras y Te Miro"	Sony Tropical, Sony Tropical
	Tributo a Jose Alfredo Jimenez	Pedro Fernández	Mariachi	"Despacito" "Si Nos Dejan" "Paloma Querida"	Rodven
	Huellas	Yuri			PolyGram
24	Historico: Banda el Recodo En Vivo	Banda el Recodo	Ranchera		Fonovisa Mexico
24	Dejame Sonar Contigo	Los Rehenes			Disa
25	Inolvidables	José Luis Rodríguez
	Vuelvo Contigo	Los Invasores de Nuevo León	Norteno		DLV
	Cualquiera Puede Cantar	Los Auténticos Decadentes	Cumbia, Pop Rock, Pachanga		BMG U.S. Latin

December

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Label
1	Así Como Tú	Los Tigres del Norte	Bolero, Norteno	FonoVisa
2	Pal Pueblo	Tito Rojas	Salsa	Musical Productions
9	Aqui Me Quedaré	El Coyote y Su Banda Tierra Santa
	Mi Charchina (El Natural)	Eddie Gonzalez	Conjunto, Tejano	Sony Discos
	De Corazón	Gilberto Santa Rosa	Salsa	Sony Discos

Unknown

Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
Vivir	Enrique Iglesias	Latin Pop	"Enamorado Por Primera Vez" "Tu Vacio" "Miente"	FonoVisa, FonoVisa
Mi Gusto Es...El Mariachi	Liberación	Tejano		EMI Latin
Musica Sin Frontera	La Tropa F
Recuerdo Especial	Michael Salgado	Tejano, Country		Discos Joey
Ven a Mi	The Barrio Boyzz	Ballad		EMI Latin
El Mundo Gira	Banda Maguey	Ranchera		FonoVisa
Habana	Roy Hargrove's Crisol	Afro-Cuban Jazz, Post Bop	"O My Seh Yeh" "Una Mas" "Afrodisia"	Verve Records
Jefe de Jefes	Los Tigres del Norte	Conjunto, Corrido, Norteno	"El Rengo del Gallo Giro"	FonoVisa
Uma Outra Estação	Legião Urbana	Pop Rock, Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Folk Rock, Post-Punk		EMI, EMI
Leaning Into the Night	Ottmar Liebert	Flamenco, Contemporary Jazz, Easy Listening, Romantic		Sony Classical
Soul of the Tango	Yo-Yo Ma	Tango		Sony Classical
A Mi Gente	Emilio	Conjunto, Tejano, Country		Capitol/EMI Latin
Tributo a Juan Gabriel	Banda el Recodo			FonoVisa
Top Norteño	Los Huracanes del Norte			FonoVisa
Corazón Indomable	Camela	Euro House, Synth-Pop, Ballad		Producciones Ar
Sedução	Negritude Jr.	Samba		EMI, EMI
Acústico MTV	Gal Costa	MPB		RCA
Quebra Cabeça	Gabriel Pensador	Pop Rap		Chaos Recordings
Em Familia	Chitãozinho & Xororó	Holiday		PolyGram, Mercury
Brincadeira de Criança	Grupo Molejo	Samba		Continental EastWest
Liga Lá	Lulu Santos	Pop Rock		BMG Brasil, Ariola
A Sétima Efervescência	Jupiter Apple
Gondwana	Gondwana	Reggae, Reggae-Pop		RCA, BMG Chile S.A.
Fome	Los Tres	Alternative Rock		Columbia
Boricua Guerrero First Combat	Various artists
Oma	El Parque	Alternative Rock, Indie Rock		Indica
Contact!	Ray Barretto and New World Spirit	Latin Jazz, Fusion		Blue Note
Nek	Nek	Euro Pop, Pop Rock		Wea Latina, Inc.
Manual Prático para Festas, Bailes e Afins - Vol. 1	Ed Motta	Jazz, Soul, Pop		Universal Music

Best-selling records

Best-selling albums

The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums in the United States in 1997, according to Billboard .^[7]

Rank	Album	Artist
1	Tango	Julio Iglesias
2	Romances	Luis Miguel
3	Vivir	Enrique Iglesias
4	Siempre Selena	Selena
5	Partiendome El Alma	Grupo Límite
6	Enrique Iglesias	Enrique Iglesias
7	Dreaming of You	Selena
8	Pies Descalzos	Shakira
9	Macarena Non Stop	Los del Río
10	Compas	Gipsy Kings

Best-performing songs

The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 1997, according to Billboard.^[7]

Rank	Single	Artist
1	"Te Sigo Amando"	Juan Gabriel
2	"El Destino"	Juan Gabriel and Rocío Dúrcal
3	"Ya Me Voy Para Siempre"	Los Temerarios
4	"Enamorado Por Primera Vez"	Enrique Iglesias
5	"Piensa en Mi"	Grupo Mojado
6	"Sólo en Ti"	Enrique Iglesias
7	"Así Como Te Conocí"	Marco Antonio Solís
8	"Por Debajo de la Mesa"	Luis Miguel
9	"Desesperadamente Enamorado"	Jordi
10	"Juguete"	Grupo Límite

Births

March 2 – Becky G, American Latin pop singer
March 21 – Martina Stoessel, Argentine actress, model, singer, and dancer
August 7 – Evaluna Montaner, Venezuelan entertainer and singer

Deaths

January 22 — Cornelio Reyna, 56, Mexican norteño singer
February 2 — Chico Science, 30, Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the manguebeat cultural movement
August 17 — Alberto Morán, 75, Argentine tango musician
October 24 — Luis Aguilar, 79, Mexican film and television actor and singer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema
October 25 — Virgilio Expósito [ es ], 73, Argentine tango composer and pianist

References

↑ "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . Retrieved July 21, 2015.
↑ Lannert, John (May 3, 1997). "The Winners Are..." Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 18. Prometheus Global Media. p. LMQ-12. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
↑ "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
↑ Lannert, John (June 21, 1997). "LARAS Formed To Expand Latin Work of NARAS". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 25. pp. 6, 92. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
↑ "International – Sanz Of Time". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 25. Prometheus Global Media. June 20, 1998. p. 64. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
↑ Lannert, John (September 27, 1997). "Latin Notas". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 56. ISSN 0006-2510.
1 2 "1997: The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 52. December 27, 1997. p. YE-57. Retrieved April 30, 2013.

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[GrammyWINNERS-1] "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . Retrieved July 21, 2015.

[2] Lannert, John (May 3, 1997). "The Winners Are..." Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 18. Prometheus Global Media. p. LMQ-12. Retrieved June 10, 2013.

[Winners-archive-3] "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.

[4] Lannert, John (June 21, 1997). "LARAS Formed To Expand Latin Work of NARAS". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 25. pp. 6, 92. Retrieved August 1, 2016.

[5] "International – Sanz Of Time". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 25. Prometheus Global Media. June 20, 1998. p. 64. Retrieved February 27, 2012.

[6] Lannert, John (September 27, 1997). "Latin Notas". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 56. ISSN 0006-2510.

[yearend1997-7] 1 2 "1997: The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 52. December 27, 1997. p. YE-57. Retrieved April 30, 2013.

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