The Lo Nuestro Excellence Award ( es, Premio Lo Nuestro a la Excelencia) is an award honoring an artist's contribution to

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, 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 Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

. It was first awarded at the 2nd Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in 1990 and has since been presented annually. The

Lo Nuestro Awards The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro (Spanish for "Our Thing") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by Univision, a Spanish-language television network based in the United States. The awards began in ...

were established by American television network

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

in 1989 to recognize the most talented performers of Latin music. Before the inception of the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

s in 2000, the Lo Nuestro Awards were considered to be the Latin music equivalent of the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s. Unlike the other award categories, where the nominees and winners are decided by the public through an online survey, the recipients of the Excellence Award are selected by Univision and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine. The trophy awarded is shaped in the form of a

treble clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a Musical notation, musical symbol used to indicate which Musical note, notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff (music), stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to ...

. During the presentation, a tribute is held to the winner which features highlights of their career and several artists performing live

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

s of the recipient's notable songs. The Excellence Award was first presented to Cuban singer

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

. Since its inception, the accolade has been mostly given to individuals, though five musical ensembles have also earned the achievement. Artists from Mexico have received the trophy more than any other nationalities with 16. Cuban-American singer

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

was honored with the Excellence Award in 1992 while her husband

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban Americans, Cuban-born American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria ...

was bestowed with the accolade two years later. They were both presented with the award again in 2018. Mexican singer

Antonio Aguilar José Pascual Antonio Aguilar Márquez Barraza (17 May 191919 June 2007) was a Mexican singer, actor, songwriter, equestrian, film producer, and screenwriter with a dominating career in music. He recorded over 150 albums, which sold 25 mill ...

was given the accolade in 2000 and his son

Pepe Aguilar José Antonio Aguilar Jiménez (born August 7, 1968), better known as Pepe Aguilar, is an American singer. - Accessed on June 17, 2011. From a young age, Aguilar accompanied his parents, Mexican singer-actors Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestr ...

earned it in 2012.

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

was honored with the trophy in 2007 and was later recognized as Person of the Year by the

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in the same year. The most recent recipient of the Excellence Award is Puerto Rican rapper

Wisin Juan Luis Morera Luna (; born December 19, 1978), best known as his stage name Wisin (), is a Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper, singer and record producer, best known as a member of the reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel. Wisin is noted for his unique and ...

who was presented with the accolade in 2021.

Recipients

References

{{featured list 1990 establishments in the United States Awards established in 1990 Lo Nuestro Awards Lifetime achievement awards Music-related lists

Recipients

See also

References