The Spanish star will accept the honor in person at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in Miami on Oct. 22, where she is also a finalist in six categories.
Most artists spend a career trying to land on one Billboard chart. Rosalía’s latest album debuted at No. 1 on five of them, and two were for classical music.
On Thursday (Oct. 1), Billboard and Telemundo announced that Rosalía will receive the Billboard Hall of Fame Award at the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards. The ceremony takes place Oct. 22 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami and airs live at 8 p.m. ET on Telemundo and Peacock. She will accept the award in person, and she may not go home with only one trophy: she is a finalist in six categories this year.
The Hall of Fame Award goes to artists whose influence reaches past sales and streams. Billboard’s announcement credits her with a career built on musical innovation and a vision that has crossed genres, languages and borders. Honestly, it’s hard to argue.
To see why, look at how stubbornly Rosalía refuses to repeat herself. “El Mal Querer” (2018) took the structures and imagery of flamenco and ran them through experimental pop and electronic production, turning a Spanish critics’ favorite into an international name. “Motomami” (2022) got louder and stranger. It became her first album on the all-genre Billboard 200 and spent 25 weeks at No. 1 on Top Latin Pop Albums between 2022 and 2023.
Then, instead of making “Motomami 2,” she made “LUX.” Released in 2025, it entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4, her highest debut yet, and opened at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums, Top Latin Pop Albums, Classical Albums, Classical Crossover Albums and World Albums. Try naming another record that feels at home on both a Latin pop chart and a classical one. “La Perla,” her collaboration with Yahritza y Su Esencia, debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard Global 200, and “Berghain,” featuring Björk and Yves Tumor, made the global chart as well. The LUX tour that followed sold out 57 dates.
She won’t be the only legend on the bill. Rubén Blades will receive this year’s Billboard Icon Award at the same show, which closes Billboard Latin Music Week, running in Miami Oct. 19–22. Bad Bunny, Peso Pluma, Tito Double P, Fuerza Regida, Karol G and Prince Royce are among this year’s most-nominated artists.
A hall of fame usually honors a career that is winding down. Rosalía’s just keeps changing direction.
Sources: Billboard · Latin Times
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