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From career milestones to new music releases to big announcements and those little milestones, billboard editors highlight inspiring moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the world of Latin music this week.
RBD songs get the regional Mexican treatment
RBD’s “Our Love” in a gang? Yes please. A number of regional Mexican artists, including Caliber 50, Chiquis, Banda Carnaval, Banda Los Sebastianes de Saúl Plata, Los Socios del Ritmo, among others, united for we are rebels 15-song set, via Universal Music Group México, that pays tribute to the Latin pop group, who recently wrapped up their epic US reunion tour. The LP comes ahead of RBD’s upcoming Latin American tour, including shows in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Below, steam We are rebelswhich includes reimagined versions of “Sólo Quédate en Silencio,” “Qué Hay Detrás” and “Sálvame”.
The University of Miami’s new Knight Center for Music Innovation
Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Ben Folds and John Secada were among the stars in attendance at the opening of the Knight Center for Music Innovation at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music on Nov. 2. the music and technology center includes two performance spaces: the 200-seat Robert and Judy Prokop Newman Concert Hall and the Thomas D. Hormel Music Innovation Stage, a multipurpose innovation space equipped with advanced recording, lighting and broadcast technology. Performances in both spaces can also be viewed through state-of-the-art technology Windowcast system that broadcasts live to the surrounding square. Thursday’s gala evening featured performances by Frost School alumni John Secada, Dawn Lewisand Lee Levin, by the way. The gala was hosted by University of Miami Board of Trustees Chair Lori Silvers, University of Miami President Julio Frank and Dean of the Frost School of Music Shelton G. Berg.
Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan arrive at the opening ceremony for the Knight Center for Music Innovation at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music on November 2, 2023 in Coral Gables, Florida.
Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Frost School of Music at the University of Miami
Bésame Mucho in Texas
After launching the first edition of Bésame Mucho in Los Angeles last year, the festival is expanding and holding its first Bésame Mucho Festival in Austin, Texas on March 2nd. Following the concept introduced in Los Angeles in December, the one-day event will feature an array of artists in a variety of genres, including rock, pop and Mexican music. The lineup includes headliners Los Tigres del Norte, Grupo Frontera, Caifanes, Cafe Tacvba, Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzmán. Others to perform include Banda MS, El Tri and Belinda. The second Bésame Mucho Festival in Los Angeles is still set to take place on December 2nd at Dodger Stadium with headliners Maná, Los Bukis and Reik.
Alejandro Sanz to donate to those affected by Hurricane Otis
Spanish superstar Alejandro Sanz has announced donations for the victims of the devastating Hurricane Otis in the seaside resort of Acapulco and the Costa Grande region of Guerrero, in southern Mexico. Sanz said he would donate 800,000 Mexican pesos (about $45,540) to those affected by the powerful Category 5 hurricane that hit Mexico’s Pacific coast on Oct. 25, his representative agency in Mexico, Ocesa Seitrack, said Wednesday (1 November). The money will come from tickets sold at his recent concerts in the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Hermosillo, Culiacan and Leon, part of his Sanz En Vivo tour.
Laura Pausini talks about Person of the Year
In a candid interview with Billboard Español, Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini shared how she’s feeling just days before being named the Latin Recording Academy’s 2023 Person of the Year. She will become the first artist born outside of Latin America or Spain to receive this honor. On Nov. 15, on the eve of the 24th edition of the Latin Grammys — which leave the United States for the first time to be held in Seville, Spain — Pausini will be honored at a gala. “For 30 years, I always say that I am the most Mexican, the most Argentinian, the most Spanish Italian … because I grew up spending many days of my life with you,” Pausini said. “Perhaps not my blood, but my soul, my ideas, my ideals, I have made them grow with yours, and I feel Latin.”
Read her interview here.