Cuban music once again made its mark at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards, held on Thursday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, where Gloria Estefan, the Cuban-Venezuelan César Orozco, and Chucho Valdés, along with the Royal Quartet, were the only artists from the Island to take home a golden gramophone.
The Cuban-American diva won the award for Best Traditional Tropical Album for her album Raíces, prevailing over her compatriots Malena Burke and Meme Solís (Malena Burke sings to Meme Solís, Vol. 1) and the Orquesta Failde (Caminando piango piango).
With this new recognition, Estefan reaches her fourth Latin Grammy, adding to the eight Grammys she has received throughout her successful international career.
Chucho Valdés and the musicians of the Royal Quartet received the award for Best Latin Jazz Album for Cuba and Beyond, a work that shared the honor with Live in NYC by Hamilton de Holanda Trio.
The Cuban-Venezuelan César Orozco, for his part, won the award in the category of Best Arrangement for Camaleón.
In the category, Paquito D’Rivera & Madrid-New York Connection Band (La Fleur de Cayenne) and Iván “Melón” Lewis Trio (Luces y sombras) also competed.
The legendary pianist has already accumulated 14 Grammy awards across Anglo and Latin editions since 1979, establishing himself as one of the most awarded figures in Cuban music.
Despite the notable participation of around twenty Cuban and Cuban-American artists and producers nominated in ten categories, only Estefan and Valdés managed to take the stage.
Among the nominees without an award were notable names such as Paquito D’Rivera, Alain Pérez, the Failde Orchestra, and the young Camila Guevara, granddaughter of Pablo Milanés and Ernesto Che Guevara, as well as Rita Rosa, who was nominated in the Best Children’s Album category for Jirafas.
The big winners of the night were Puerto Rican Bad Bunny and the Argentine duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, each taking home five awards, followed by Mexican-American producer and songwriter Édgar Barrera and Brazilian singer Liniker, both with three awards.
In a gala marked by diversity and a tribute to Latin American roots, Gloria Estefan, Chucho Valdés, and the Cuban-Venezuelan César Orozco closed the night as the only Cubans to win a Latin Grammy, reaffirming the significance and quality of music from the Island on international stages.
Filed under:
