This is a list of notable events in

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

(i.e. Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking music from Latin America, Europe, and the United States) that took place in 1995.

Events

* January 7: Fonovisa,

Global Records Global Records is a Romanian independent record label founded in 2008 by Ștefan Lucian. History Global Records's first signed artist was Inna in 2008, whose career has been spanning over 10 years. She has released a series of international ...

, and

Sony Discos Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is a record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. History In 1979, CBS Records (now Columbia Records) ended its partnership with ...

settle out of court after an infringement with

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing part of Los Hermanito ...

and

Los Bukis Los Bukis (The Bukis, ''buki'' translates as ''Little Kid'' in the Yaqui language) are a Mexican Grupera band from Ario de Rosales, Michoacan. In 1973, the band was founded by cousins Marco Antonio Solís and Joel Solís. Their first song was ...

in December 1994. * January 20: The

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

raided a

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

business in a San Fernando Valley area and confiscated 55,000 Latin music cassettes worth an estimated $500,000 (1995 USD). * January 21: The Latin music categories for the 37th Annual Grammy Awards are revealed. In addition, the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

introduces a new category for Latin jazz albums. * January 28: ** The

Mexican peso crisis The Mexican peso crisis was a currency crisis sparked by the Mexican government's sudden devaluation of the peso against the U.S. dollar in December 1994, which became one of the first international financial crises ignited by capital flight. ...

sets off an uncertainty for Latin music, as

regional Mexican music Regional styles of Mexican music vary greatly from state to state. Norteño, banda, duranguense, Son mexicano and other Mexican country music genres are often known as regional Mexican music because each state produces different musical sounds ...

remained one of the biggest music genres and could have negatively affect Latin music as a whole. Due to the crisis, EMI Music Mexico began reducing stuff, becoming the first Latin music company to do so. ** KAFY-AM (based in Bakersfield, California) and KELF-AM (based in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

) were dropped from the

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ra ...

reporting radio panels due to format changes. * February 4: ** American executive and musician

Jay Ziskrout Jay Ziskrout (born September 8, 1962) was the first drummer for Bad Religion, forming the group with schoolmate Brett Gurewitz in 1980. Ziskrout performed on Bad Religion's Bad Religion (EP), self-titled EP and half on their debut album ''How Co ...

forms Grita Records a label aimed at the Latin Alternative, or

rock en español Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countri ...

, market in the United States. ** A report published by ''Billboard'' magazine showed that unsigned Latin music acts in Canada were easily selling thousands of copies, showing a correlation in Canada's melting pot cities

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. * February 11: Little Joe and

La Mafia La Mafia is a five-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas, and has charted a course as a Latin music band. History La Mafia was founded in 1980 in Houston, TX. Vocalist Osca ...

decided not to attend the

1995 Tejano Music Awards The 15th Annual Tejano Music Awards were held on February 11, 1995, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Tejano Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony recognizing the accomplishments of Tejano musicians from the previous year. Award wi ...

and spoke out against the organization for what they believed to be a faulty voting process. * February 18: ** The rise of samba paulista sees a spike of interest among major record companies such as music club Bertelsmann Music Group,

Polygram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

, EMI Brazil,

Continental Records Continental Records was a record company founded by Donald H. Gabor in 1942 producing and releasing jazz, blues and classical music. Its catalogue included issues by Cozy Cole, Edmond Hall, Sabby Lewis, Slam Stewart, Mary Lou Williams, Rubber ...

, and

Sony Music Brazil Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. ** Early estimates by Sony Music believed that the Brazilian music market would increase 10% in 1995 from 1994 sales figures provided by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD). * February 23: At the 37th annual

Music Business Association The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly known as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), is a not-for-profit trade association based in Nashville, Tennessee that seeks to promote sustained financial growth and bolst ...

(NARM),

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

director of Latin music sales, Gustavo Fernández is awarded for Luis Miguel's '' Segundo Romance'' (1994) for best-selling Latin album. * February 25: The emergence of

zumba Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a ...

music begins as music companies began marketing the genre. *

March 1 Events Pre-1600 *509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. * 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...

– The 37th Annual Grammy Awards are held at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, and ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. ** Luis Miguel wins the

Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance The Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the Latin pop genre. Honors i ...

for his album '' Segundo Romance''. **

Cachao Israel López Valdés (September 14, 1918 – March 22, 2008), better known as Cachao ( ), was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo and a master of the descarga (improvised jam sessions). ...

wins the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance for his album '' Master Sessions, Vol. 1'' **

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...

wins the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance for her album ''

Recuerdo a Javier Solís ''Recuerdo a Javier Solís'' (''I remember Javier Solís'') is an album that was released in 1994 by Vikki Carr. It won a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Recording. The album contains the hit song ''Amaneci en Tus Brazos''. The album is a tr ...

'' **

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his f ...

wins the

Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the Latin jazz ...

for his album '' Danzón (Dance On)''. * March 4: The A-Z directory of the Hot Latin Songs chart debuts in ''Billboard'' magazine. * March 17: The first annual Chilean Music Awards is held in the Chile de Santiago Stadium.

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

band

Illapu Illapu are a Chilean folk and Andean musical ensemble that was formed in 1971 in Antofagasta, in northern Chile, by the brothers José Miguel, Jaime, Andrés and Roberto Márquez Bugueño. A later addition to the group was Osvaldo Torres. Sto ...

won the most awards including Song of the Year, Best Group, and Best-selling Chilean Album of the Year. * March 31: ** American Tejano performer

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

is shot and killed by

Yolanda Saldívar Yolanda Saldívar (; born September 19, 1960) is an American former nurse who was convicted of the murder of singer Selena in 1995. Saldívar had been the president of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, but she lost both positio ...

, her friend and former manager of the singer's

boutiques A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''de ...

. The impact of the singer's death had a negative impact on

, her genre—which she catapulted it into the

mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...

market—suffered and its popularity waned following Selena's death. It was called an end of an era, as the Tejano market's "golden age" ended and never recovered. ** During the aftermath of Selena's death, the state of Texas cancelled all concerts that were scheduled for that day. ** American

television host Johnny Canales married his wife Nora. * April 1: Beginning with the April 1, 1995 issue of ''Billboard'' magazine, the weekly column of Latin music called "Latin Notas" began incorporating a column dedicated to the

Music of Chile Chilean music refers to all kinds of music developed in Chile, or by Chileans in other countries, from the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the modern day. It also includes the native pre-Columbian music from what is today Chilean territo ...

spearheaded by Pablo Marquez of the ''El Mercurio''. * April 4: American disk jockey

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...

mocked Selena's murder, burial, and mourners, and criticized her music. Stern said "Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth." He then played Selena's songs with gunshot noises in the background. After an arrest warrant for

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to " disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain are ...

was issued for him, Stern made an on-air statement, in Spanish. The

League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanics ...

found Stern's apology unacceptable and urged a boycott of his show. * April 8: Jose Antonio Eboli succeeds Jorge Undurraga as general manager of Sony Music Chile. * April 8: Sergio Fasanelli founded Argentine indie label Disco Milagrosos aimed at the

Latin metal Latin metal (, ) is a subgenre of heavy metal music with Latin origins, influences, and instrumentation, such as Spanish vocals, Latin percussion and rhythm such as Salsa rhythm. Some South American bands also add influences and instrumentation ...

market. * April 15: Rodolfo Castro, Danny Barrocas, Gustavo Méndez, and Anthony Gonzalez founded Miami indie label Radio Vox, releasing its first

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...

by Fulano de Tal titled "Revolucion". * April 29: Selena becomes the first Hispanic artist to have five charting titles on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart simultaneously. * May 18: The 7th Lo Nuestro Awards: **

posthumously wins four awards, becoming the biggest winner. A tribute is held in honor of Selena. * June 5-7: The sixth annual ''Billboard'' Latin Music conference took place. ** The second annual ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards is also held on June 7. Selena becomes the most awarded artist of the award ceremony, receiving four award posthumously including Hot Latin Tracks Artist of the Year. She is also posthumously inducted into the ''Billboard'' Latin Music Hall of Fame. * July 18: '' Dreaming of You'', the crossover album Selena was working on at the time of her death, was released. On the day of its availability, 175,000 copies were sold in the U.S.—a record for a female vocalist—and 331,000 copies sold in its first week. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, becoming the first predominately Spanish-language album to do so. * November 24–26: ShowMarket holds the first trade fair in Barcelona, Spain to focus on Latin music and relations among the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets in Latin America, Europe, and the United States.

Bands formed

*Angel (electro-Latin) *Dos Almas (Latin jazz) *Llamame "Yanko" (Cuban salsa) *Grupo Raça (samba paulista) *Os Morenos (samba paulista) *Ginga Pura (samba paulista) *Grupo Tempero (samba paulista) *

Adryana Ribeiro Adryana Ribeiro (1973) is a Brazilian singer signed to Deckdisc. She has released solo works and also albums under the name "Adryana e a Rapaziada". Career In 1994, after participating in a test for the record label Sony BMG Music Entertainmen ...

(samba paulista) *Freddie Ravel of

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

begins his short venture in Latin music (Latin fusion) *Los Filis (zumba music) *

Caribbean Jazz Project Caribbean Jazz Project was a Latin jazz band founded in 1993. The original group featured Dave Samuels, Paquito D'Rivera, and Andy Narell. After their second album, D'Rivera and Narell left the group, although both returned as guest stars. Under ...

(Latin jazz) *Pez (Latin psychedelic/progressive) *Verde (Latin metal/thrash) *No Demuestra (Argentine punk) * Bobby Pulido (Tejano) * Grupo Limite (Tejano) * Jennifer Pena (Tejano) * Enrique Iglesias (Latin pop) * Donato y Estefano (Latin pop) *

Millie Millie is a feminine given name or diminutive form of various other given names, such as Emily, Millicent, Mildred, Camilla or sometimes Amelia. People with the given name Notable people with the given name include: * Millie Bailey (1918–20 ...

Ilegales Ilegales (also called Los Ilegales, "The Illegals") is a Grammy-nominatedRamiro Burr. "Latin Notes: Ilegales' signature sound clear on its danceable new CD," ''San Antonio Express-News'' (Texas), January 16, 2005, Culturas section, page 8J.Jor ...

* Jailene Cintrón *Mayra Mayra

Bands reformed

* Djavan (on hiatus in 1991) *

Myriam Hernandez Miriam () is a feminine given name recorded in Biblical Hebrew, recorded in the Book of Exodus as the name of the sister of Moses, the prophetess Miriam. Spelling variants include French ''Myriam'', German ''Mirjam, Mirijam''; hypocoristic for ...

(on hiatus in 1994)

Bands disbanded

Selena y Los Dinos Selena y Los Dinos ( en, Selena and the Guys, Selena And the Dinos=Selena And The Dinos) was an American Tejano band formed in 1981 by Tejano singer Selena and her father Abraham Quintanilla. The band remained together until the murder of Sel ...

(formed in 1980)

Bands on hiatus

* Arizita (on hiatus until 1996)

Number-ones albums and singles by country

* List of number-one albums of 1995 (Spain) *

List of number-one singles of 1995 (Spain) This is a list of the Spanish PROMUSICAE Top 20 Singles number-ones of 1995. Records for the Year * Longest running number one of the year - Ororo (group), Ororo "Zombie (The Cranberries song), Zombie" (9 non-consecutive weeks) * Artists with m ...

* List of number-one ''Billboard'' Top Latin Albums of 1995 * List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 1995

Awards

* 1995 Premio Lo Nuestro * 1995 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards *

Albums released

First quarter

January

February

March

Second quarter

April

May

June

Third quarter

July

August

September

Fourth quarter

October

November

December

Unknown date

Best-selling records

Best-selling albums

The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums in the United States in 1995, according to '' Billboard''.

Best-performing songs

The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 1995, according to ''Billboard''.

Births

January 5 Events Pre-1600 *1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1601–1900 * 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French a ...

– Whindersson Nunes, Brazilian YouTuber and musician * January 7 –

Leslie Grace Leslie Grace Martínez (born January 7, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. For her work as a singer she has received three Latin Grammy Award nominations. She starred as Nina Rosario in Jon M. Chu's film adaptation ''In the Hei ...

, American bachata singer *

January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. * 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...

Nathy Peluso Natalia Peluso (born 12 January 1995), known professionally as Nathy Peluso (), is an Argentinian singer, songwriter, dancer and pedagogue. Born in Argentina, and raised in Spain, Peluso became interested in the performing arts at an early age, ...

, Argentine singer * June 23

Danna Paola Danna Paola Rivera Munguía (born 23 June 1995) is a Mexican singer, model and actress. She gained popularity as a child actress and singer, starring in dozens of television projects throughout her early childhood and adolescence. Early life D ...

, Mexican pop singer *

September 25 Events Pre-1600 * 275 – For the last time, the Roman Senate chooses an emperor; they elect 75-year-old Marcus Claudius Tacitus. * 762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt ag ...

–

Sofía Reyes Úrsula Sofía Reyes Piñeyro (born 25 September 1995) is a Mexican singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 2018 with her song " 1,2,3", which featured Jason Derulo and De La Ghetto. In 2019, she released the song " R.I.P." with Brazilian si ...

, Mexican pop singer

Deaths

January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...

– Patricia Teherán, 26, Colombian vallenato singer (car accident) *

March 29 Events Pre-1600 * 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. * 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...

–

Carl Jefferson Carl Jefferson (December 10, 1919 – March 29, 1995) was an American jazz record producer, and was the founder of the Concord Records label. Biography Jefferson was born in Alameda, California. Prior to entering the music business, he owned and o ...

, 75, founder of Latin jazz label Concord Picante * March 31 –

, 23, American Tejano singer (murdered) *

May 31 Events Pre-1600 * 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. * 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat K ...

– Antonio Flores, 33, Spanish flamenco singer (suicide by drug overdose) *

July 19 Events Pre-1600 *AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city. * 484 – Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is ...

–

Tomás Méndez Tomás Méndez (born Tomás Méndez Sosa; July 25, 1927 – June 19, 1995) was a Mexican composer and singer of Mexican music and ranchera music. He was born in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico. He obtained his first success in 1954 with the Mexican ...

, 68, Mexican ranchera composer *

July 24 Events Pre-1600 *1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. * 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. *1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirl ...

– Manuel Pareja Obregón, Spanish composer of Andalusian folk music *

July 25 Events Pre-1600 * 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. * 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. ...

–

Osvaldo Pugliese Osvaldo Pedro Pugliese (Buenos Aires, December 2, 1905 – July 25, 1995, Buenos Aires) was an Argentine tango musician. He developed dramatic arrangements that retained strong elements of the walking beat of salon tango but also heralded the d ...

, Argentine tango musician

References

Sources

* * * * {{Cite book, last =Untiedt, first =Kenneth L., title =Cowboys, Cops, Killers, and Ghosts: Legends and Lore in Texas, year =2013, publisher =

University of North Texas Press The University of North Texas Press (or UNT Press), founded in 1987, is a university press that is part of the University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as ...

, isbn =978-1-57441-532-2 Latin music by year