The following is a list of events and releases that happened in 2018 in Latin music. The list covers events and releases from Latin regions including Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Events

January–March

• January 28 – "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber becomes the first Latin song to receive a diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[2][3] The RIAA measured data from the original version by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee and the remix with Justin Bieber for the award.^[3] Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee become the 12th and 13th Latin artists to perform at the Grammy Awards.^[4][5]
• February 12 – "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber breaks the record for the longest-running number-one song on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. The previous record was held by "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias, Gente de Zona, and Descemer Bueno with 41 weeks.^[6]
• February 22 – The 30th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards are held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Nominations are absent due to being a commemorative edition. Special awards are given instead.^[7][8]
  • Cuban producer Emilio Estefan and Cuban singer Gloria Estefan receive the Lo Nuestro Award to Excellence.
  • Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández receives the Trajectory Award.
  • Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón and Puerto Rican duo Wisin & Yandel receive a special award.
• March 6 – The 26th Annual ASCAP Latin Awards are held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, New York.^[9]
  • "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber wins Song of the Year. Only ASCAP members Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, and Daddy Yankee receive the award.
  • Joss Favela is recognized as Songwriter of the Year.
• March 20 – The 25th Annual BMI Latin Awards are held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.^[10]
  • "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber wins Contemporary Latin Song of the Year. Only BMI members Luis Fonsi and Marty James receive the award.
  • J Balvin is recognized as Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year.

April–June

• April 4 – The music video of "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee becomes the first YouTube video to reach five billion views on the site.^[11]
• April 10 – "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber reaches an unprecedented 50th week at number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart.^[12]
• April 23 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that revenue for the Latin music market in the United States rose 37% in 2017, totaling in $243 million amounting to 2.8 percent of the market in the country. Streaming was noted as the primary factor for the rise in revenue for the Latin music market.^[13]
• April 24 – The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reports that revenue for the Latin music market in Latin America increased 17.7% in 2017, denoting online streaming as the primary factor for its rise. Physical albums revenue declined 41.5%.^[14]
  • "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is the second best-selling digital single of 2017 in the world, with 24.3 million sales plus track-equivalent streams.^[14]
• April 26 – The 25th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards are held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[15]
  • Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee is the biggest winner with eight awards.
  • Puerto Rican singer Ozuna wins Artist of the Year.
  • "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber wins Hot Latin Song of the Year.
  • Fénix by Nicky Jam wins Top Latin Album of the Year.
• April 28 – Mexican group Calibre 50 and Colombian singer J Balvin receive an award by streaming service Pandora Radio for being the first artists to surpass a billion streams each in that platform.^[16]

July–September

• July 2 – Colombian singer J Balvin and Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny achieve their first number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 through "I Like It" with American rapper Cardi B.^[17] They become the first Latin artists to top the chart since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2017.^[18]
• July 10 – Nielsen SoundScan publishes the Latin mid-year chart for the United States and reports that streaming activity has increased in comparison to the first half of 2017, while album and digital single sales decreased.^[19]
  • Odisea by Puerto Rican singer Ozuna is the best-performing album, with 313,000 sales plus track- and stream-equivalent units.
  • CNCO by CNCO is the best-selling album, with 17,000 copies sold.
  • "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is the best-selling single, with 246,000 downloads sold; the most-streamed song, with 308,980,000 audio and video streams combined; the most-streamed audio, with 119,802,000 streams; and the most-streamed video, with 189,178,000 streams.
• July 15  – American singer Nicky Jam performs "X" and "Live It Up", the latter together with American rapper Will Smith and Kosovo Albanian singer Era Istrefi, during the FIFA World Cup closing ceremony.^[20]

October–December

• November 2 – The 13th LOS40 Music Awards take place at the WiZink Center in Madrid.^[21]
  • Prometo by Pablo Alborán wins Best Spanish Album.
  • "El Patio" by Pablo López wins Best Spanish Song.
  • "Déjala Que Baile" by Melendi and Alejandro Sanz wins Best Spanish Video.
  • Colombian band Morat wins Best Latin Artist.
• November 4 – The 25th MTV Europe Music Awards take place at the Bizkaia Arena in Bilbao.^[22]
  • Anitta wins Best Brazilian Act.
  • Ha*Ash wins Best Latin America North Act.
  • Sebastián Yatra wins Best Latin America Central Act.
  • Lali wins Best Latin America South Act.
  • Diogo Piçarra wins Best Portuguese Act.
  • Viva Suecia wins Best Spanish Act.

• November 15 – The 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards are held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada:^[23]
  • "Telefonía" by Jorge Drexler wins the Latin Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
  • ¡México Por Siempre! by Luis Miguel wins the Album of the Year.
  • Karol G wins the Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist
  • Mexican band Maná is honored Person of the Year, becoming the first musical ensemble to do so.

Number-ones albums and singles by country

• List of number-one hits of 2018 (Argentina)
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Bolivia)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2018 (Brazil)
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Colombia)
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Guatemala)
• List of number-one albums of 2018 (Mexico)
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Mexico)
• List of number-one albums of 2018 (Portugal)
• List of number-one albums of 2018 (Spain)
• List of number-one singles of 2018 (Spain)
• List of number-one Billboard Latin Albums from the 2010s
• List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Songs of 2018
• List of number-one Billboard Regional Mexican Songs of 2018
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Venezuela)

Awards

• 2018 Premio Lo Nuestro
• 2018 Billboard Latin Music Awards
• 2018 Latin American Music Awards
• 2018 Latin Grammy Awards
• 2018 Heat Latin Music Awards
• 2018 MTV Millennial Awards

Albums released

First-quarter

January

February

March

Second-quarter

April

May

June

Third-quarter

July

August

September

Fourth-quarter

October

November

December

Best-selling records

Best-selling albums

The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums (including album-equivalent units) in the United States in 2018, according to Billboard.^[24]

Best-performing songs

The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 2018, according to Billboard.^[25]

Deaths

• January 8 – Cuco Del Cid, 73, Mariachi musical director^[26]
• January 9 – Joel Alanís (47), rock músician; sclerosis.^[27]
• January 13 – Francisco Jesús Pérez Cuevas, 48, Spanish musician^[28]
• January 15 – Carlos Puig Premión, 64, Cuban orchestra director^[29]
• January 16 – Madalena Iglésias, 78, Portuguese actress and singer.^[30]
• January 17:
  • Augusto Polo Campos, 85, Peruvian composer.^[31]
  • Tony Taño, Cuban orchestra director^[32]
• January 18 – Perico Lino, 86, Spanish singer and member of Los Gofiones [es]^[33]
• March 2 – Jesús López Cobos, 78, Spanish conductor, cancer.^[34]
• March 7 – Mayra Mayra, 54, Puerto Rican merengue singer^[35]
• March 10 – Lena Villarreal, 38, Nicaraguan American event producer^[36]
• March 14 – Pijuán, 75, Puerto Rican pianist.^[37]
• March 24 – José Antonio Abreu, 78, Venezuelan conductor and founder of El Sistema and recipient of the Latin Grammy Trustees Award^[38]
• April 16 – Dona Ivone Lara, 97, Brazilian singer and composer.^[39]
• April 19 – Graciela Agudelo, 72, Mexican pianist and composer.^[40]
• April 28 – Roberto Angleró, 88, Puerto Rican music composer and singer.^[41]
• Mary 14 – Gustavo Márquez, Venezuelan bassist for C4 Trio^[42]
• May 18 – Anthony Cruz, Puerto Rican-American salsa singer ("Dile a Él" and "No le Temas a Él").^[43]
• May 28
  • María Dolores Pradera, 93, Spanish singer and actress, recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[44]
  • Evio di Marzo [es], 64, Venezuelan singer-songwriter (Adrenalina Caribe), shot.^[45]
• May 31 – Joseíto Mateo [es], 98, Dominican merengue singer, recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[46]
• June 6 – Jimmy Gonzalez, 67, American Tejano singer, fronted Grupo Mazz and a four-time Grammy Award winner.^[47]
• June 15 – Santos Blanco, 46, Spanish musician, dancer, and actor^[48]
• June 19
  • Efrén Echeverría, 86, Paraguayan musician, composer, and record collector^[49]
• June 24
  • Ángel Medardo Luzuriaga, 82, Ecuadorian Andean cumbia musician^[50]
  • Xiomara Alfaro, 88, Cuban opera singer^[51]
• July 2 – Daniel Sais, 55, Argentine keyboardist for Soda Stereo^[52]
• July 9 – Jorge Valenzuela, 22, Regional Mexican singer^[53]
• July 28 – Carlos Moreán [es], 70, Mexican Venezuelan singer and composer^[54]
• August 7 – Carlos Almenar Otero, 92, Venezuelan singer and songwriter.^[55]
• August 15 – Fabio Melannitto, 32, Venezuelan singer and member of Uff!^[56]
• September 7 – Wilson Moreira, 81, Brazilian singer^[57]
• September 9 – Mr. Catra, 49, Brazilian musician (stomach cancer)^[58]
• September 14 – Carlos Rubira Infante, 96, Ecuadorian pasillo and pasacalle singer-songwriter^[59]
• September 18 – Carmencita Lara, 91, Peruvian singer^[60]
• September 24
  • Alfredo Ábalos [es], 80, Argentine folk singer^[61]
  • Vicente Bianchi, 98, Chilean conductor, composer and pianist^[62]
• September 26 – Tito Madi, 89, Brazilian singer and composer^[63]
• September 30 – Ângela Maria, 89, Brazilian singer^[64]
• October 1 – Jerry González, 69, American bandleader and trumpeter (heart attack)^[65]
• October 6 – Montserrat Caballé, 85, Spanish opera singer, Grammy winner (1968), gallbladder infection.^[66]
• October 8Gretchen G [es], 28, Venezuelan singer^[67]
• October 18 – Raúl Marrero, 92, Puerto Rican salsa musician and composer^[68]
• October 19 – José Capel, Spanish singer and composer^[69]
• October 22 – Al Hurricane, 81, American singer and songwriter, complications from prostate cancer.^[70]
• October 27 – Enrique "Neto" Gonzalez, Mexican indie producer and sound engineer, auto accident^[71]
• November 2 – Roy Hargrove, 49, American jazz trumpeter, Grammy winner (1997, 2002), cardiac arrest.^[72]
• November 13
  • Lucho Gatica, 90, Chilean bolero singer and actor^[73]
  • Arthur Maia, 56, Brazilian composer and musician (heart attack)^[74]
• December 13 – Samurai [es], 33, Colombian rapper^[75]
• December 16 – Chiquetete, 70, Spanish flamenco and ballad singer, heart attack ("Esta Cobardía", "Volveré").^[76]
• December 24 – Jaime Torres, 80, Argentine charango player.^[77]
• December 25 – Guto Barros [pt], 61, Brazilian guitarist and songwriter (Blitz).^[78]
• December 27 – Miúcha, 81, Brazilian singer and composer^[79]