The singer Gloria Estefan, the pianist and arranger César Orozco and the pianist Chucho Valdés were the Cuban winners of the Latin Grammys on Thursday night; But, a large group of musicians born on the island aspired to the gramophone of the music industry.
with his disk RootsGloria Estefan won the “Best Traditional Tropical Album” category, surpassing the work of compatriots also nominated such as Malena Burke, Meme Solis or the Failde Orchestra, all listed in the same category.
During the ceremony, the performer said that the album would not exist if it were not for her husband, Emilio Estefanalso celebrated in this edition of the Grammys, who highlighted “the beautiful songs you wrote for me, the impeccable production that characterizes you, the fifty years of making music together…”.
Maestro Chucho Valdés and his Royal Quartet stood out in the “Best Latin Jazz Album” category with their album Cuba And Beyondnews that surprised them at the end of a concert in Girona, Spain.
On their social networks they showed their surprise and enthusiasm upon learning the news, and did not hesitate to exclaim a resounding and satisfactory “We won!” Valdés and his quartet shared the award with Hamilton De Holland, who also stood out for his album Hamilton De Holland Trio – Live In NYC.
The competition was also close in this section, where the maestro Paquito D’Rivera and Iván Melon Lewis were also represented by recent works.
Another Cuban who stood out on the night did so from the “Best Arrangement” section. It was the case of Cesar Orozco(Cesar Orozco & Son Ahead), who won with Chameleonan album whose title is a well-known song by Rubén Blades.
“Let’s continue making music from the heart, from the truth,” said the pianist, who developed his career in Venezuela and then in the United States, upon receiving the award.
Cubans who had been nominated
In the Best Instrumental Album category, Ariel Brínguez and Iván “Melon” Lewis were nominated (Soul in Cuba) and Aldo López Gavilán with Harlem Quartet Featuring (Havana Meets Harlem), but the winner was Rafael Serrallet and the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra for their work The Song of All.
Congratulations to the winners! #LatinGRAMMY✨ pic.twitter.com/hqbxzvEWWQ
— The Latin Recording Academy / Latin GRAMMYs (@LatinGRAMMYs) November 14, 2025
For best tropical song, another Cuban who was nominated was Andy Clay, who together with Fonseca and Alberto Montenegro wrote “Venga lo que vende”, a song that aspired to the Best Tropical Song, a category that was finally won by Karol G, for “If I had known you before”, written with Andrés Jael Correa Ríos and Edgar Barrera.
The Mexican composer, Barrera, by the way, equaled Residente’s record by reaching the 29 Latin Grammys that the Puerto Rican star has accumulated throughout the history of the awards, according to EFE.
But, also with the award to Rubén Blades last night in the Best Salsa Album category, other Cuban musicians were honored last night. As producer Alden González wrote, the album Photographs by Blades and Roberto Delgado & Orquesta contains “a little piece of Santiago de Cuba”, “a portion of the flavor of the Casa de la Trova”. This work has collaborations with several Santiago artists such as the group Azabache from Cuba, González himself as producer and sound engineer Damián Busqueta.
In addition, artists such as Alain Pérez and Issac Delgado and the young Camila Guevara were nominated.
Winners of the night
The Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny expanded his legend by obtaining five gramophones out of the 12 he held and for the first time in his career he won the Latin Grammy for album of the year for I should have taken more photo.
Gloria Estefan, Alain Pérez, Paquito D’Rivera and more: Cubans on the way to the 2026 Grammy
Karol G won the award for song of the year and the Spanish Alejandro Sanz surprised by winning the award for recording of the year, with his song “Palmeras en el Jardín”.
The Argentinians Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, the second most nominated of the night, won five of the ten gramophones to which they aspired in categories such as best alternative song, best pop song or best alternative music album, he points out EFE.
