Héctor Lavoe was born to sing. As Latin music evolved from the boogaloo of the late '60s to the salsa boom of the '70s, Lavoe was at its forefront and "El Cantante" (the singer) of some of its most representative songs. Born Héctor Juan Perez in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on September 30, 1946, he was influenced by the Latin singers he heard on the radio, Daniel Santos and Chuito el de Bayamon, just to name a couple. As he grew more involved in music, he drew his inspiration from Puerto Rico's great sonero Ismael Rivera, as well as Cheo Feliciano. These influences are obvious in Lavoe's singing style: he attacks the son and montuno like the masters Rivera and Beny Moré, but Lavoe's natural talent for improvosation made him unique and very popular with salsa fans.

Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia de Estefan, known professionally as Gloria Estefan (born September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide.

So much has transpired since the 2018 release of ROSALÍA’s EL MAL QUERER. The Spanish singer’s transition from critically acclaimed flamenco upstart to internationally renowned star—marked by creative collaborations with global tastemakers like Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, and Oneohtrix Point Never—has been nothing short of a metamorphosis. Some three years later, her ability to navigate and dominate such a wide array of musical styles only raises expectations for her highly anticipated follow-up to her award-winning breakthrough effort.

Combined with 40 years of hits, Santana performed many of the songs from his double-platinum US Latin-certified and critically-acclaimed album CORAZÓN at a once in a lifetime concert event in December 2013, accompanied by many of his album special guests, all celebrating their Latin music heritage in Guadalajara, Mexico (in his native state of Jalisco). The CORAZÓN project brought Carlos back to his birthplace and celebrates Carlos’ love of his musical heritage, as well as showcases Carlos’ own personal influence on Latin music and on today’s generation of Latin superstars. Superstar guest performers who joined Santana at the concert event captured on this CD include Elan Atias, Chocquibtown, Lila Downs, Gloria Estefan, Juanes, Miguel, Fher Olvera (of Maña),Niña Pastori, Samuel Rosa (of Skank), Cindy Blackman Santana, Salvador Santana, Romeo Santos, Soledad, and Diego Torres.

Having recently declared that he's in far better voice than he was in his '70s/'80s heyday, romantic crooner Julio Iglesias gets to put his money where his mouth is on this alternative greatest-hits collection, Vol. 1. His first studio release since 2007's Quelque Chose de France sees Spain's most successful musical export revisit 15 of his most cherished songs from his enduring 40-year career, with tracks spanning from 1973's Un Canto a Galicia (the title track) right up to 2006's Romantic Classics (a Spanish-language version of Elvis' "Always on My Mind"). But other than the inevitable maturity in Iglesias' voice and a slightly glossier production, there's little variation between the originals and the new recordings, which, with the exception of the breezy Gallic lounge-pop of "As Vezes Tu, As Vezes Eu," stick to his trademark orchestral and flamenco-tinged chansons.

Released just after Cuts Both Ways and a year before her Greatest Hits compilation, Exitos de Gloria Estefan rounds up the key highlights among the singer's Spanish-language recordings for Sony Discos. Expected inclusions like "Conga" and "Don't Wanna Lose You" are here, of course, albeit in Spanish (though "Here We Are" is oddly here in its Portuguese version). More notably, however, Exitos de Gloria Estefan also rounds up unexpected inclusions, some of which never had English-language hit counterparts. "Renacer" is a remake of the title track from Miami Sound Machine's debut album from way back in 1977, for instance, while "Dingui-Li Bangui" is a wonderful song that will be new to most English-language-inclined listeners. And too, the English-language "Dr. Beat" is a welcome inclusion, for it's a catchy and fun dance-pop song from 1984 that was unfortunately left off the Greatest Hits collection. Most of Miami Sound Machine's less commercially successful albums remained out of print for years, so Exitos de Gloria Estefan is one of the few relatively available albums featuring these songs.

Corazón is Carlos Santana's first album for a major label since 2002's Shaman. It marks his reunion with executive producer Clive Davis, who masterminded 1999's multi-platinum Supernatural. Billed by RCA as his "first Latin album," Corazón is the studio counterpart to the guitarist's HBO Latino concert special that featured his band performing with a host of Latin music superstars in his native Mexico. The singing was (as it is here) mostly in Spanish. For the most part, Santana actually sounds hungry again. His studio band is filled with killers, including drummer Dennis Chambers, timbalero Karl Perazza, and conguero Raul Rekow. Opener "Saideira" features his trademark tone in a passionate, stinging, gritty exchange with vocalist Samuel Rosa, from the Brazilian rock and reggae band Skank. Jittering, insistent horns and layers of percussion push both men to escalate the battle. Juanes lends his soulful croon to first single "La Flaca." It's got an anthemic hook with layers of backing vocals framing Santana's tight and tasty solos.

Hits back to the '50s from Colombia's Disco Fuentes label, with history sweeping consistency aside–any gringo can tell Conjunto Tipico Vallenato's accordion side-closers are country and Rodolfo's coffee commercial isn't. But even if the accordion stuff belongs on a vallenata comp, it passes muster on a collection where at least half the songs bristle with the exigente hooks that sell classic pop the world over. And the unmistakable beat runs down a consummate South American groove, halfway between Euro clomp and Afro hipshake.