The Recording Academy has announced one of the most significant changes to its awards system in recent years. Beginning with the 2027 edition, the Grammy Awards will officially introduce the Best Latin Song category, a new honor designed to recognize the songwriters behind Spanish-language compositions that have achieved global success.
The new award will debut during the Grammy ceremony on February 7, 2027, as part of a broader update to the Academy’s rules and categories. In total, the Recording Academy has added five new award categories to better reflect the evolution of the music industry and the growing influence of genres and markets that have gained prominence worldwide.
The decision comes at a time when Latin music continues to expand its presence on the global stage, with Spanish-speaking artists breaking language barriers and consistently producing some of the world’s most-streamed albums and songs.
Best Latin Song: A Grammy’s new category honoring Spanish-language songwriters
The Best Latin Song category will primarily recognize the work of songwriters. To qualify, a song must feature at least 51% of its lyrics in Spanish, making it eligible across a broad range of Latin music styles.
According to the Recording Academy, the category will include songs from Latin pop, Mexican music, urban music, tropical music, Latin rock, and alternative Latin, among other genres. While the award is intended to honor the composers, performing artists will also be eligible to receive the Grammy if they are officially credited as songwriters.
With this addition, the Grammy Awards aim to expand the recognition already given to Latin albums by creating a dedicated category for songwriting in Spanish within the main Grammy Awards, rather than exclusively through the Latin Grammys.
The move has also been widely viewed as a response to Latin music’s continued rise in the global industry. One of the biggest milestones came this year when Bad Bunny became the first artist to win Album of the Year with an album recorded entirely in Spanish, underscoring the international impact of Latin music and reinforcing the need for new categories that reflect its growing influence.
Four more new categories to debut at the 2027 Grammys
The introduction of Best Latin Song will not be the only major change at the 2027 Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy has also confirmed four additional categories aimed at recognizing musical genres and performance formats that have gained significant momentum in recent years.
Among them is Best Asian Pop Performance, a category that will honor artists in K-pop, J-pop, and other Asian pop genres, acknowledging the worldwide success of performers and groups from the region.
Another new award, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, will recognize collaborative performances and groups within the R&B genre, reflecting the growing popularity of these acts across streaming platforms and music charts.
The Academy will also introduce Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, celebrating artists who continue to embrace the classic style of pop singing, including ballads and recordings featuring orchestral or traditional arrangements.
Finally, the Grammys will present the inaugural Best Traditional Folk Album award, recognizing projects dedicated to preserving and revitalizing authentic folk music traditions and highlighting the cultural importance of these musical roots.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source colombiaone.com ’
