Omara Portuondo and seven other Cubans among 2026 Latin Grammy nominees

Foto: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

September 17, 2026

The Latin Recording Academy released the official nominees for the 27th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards on September 16, 2026. The ceremony is set for November 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will air live on Univision. Several Cuban artists appear on the slate, led by Omara Portuondo in Best Traditional Tropical Album for Eternamente Omara.

That same category also includes Dayhan Díaz with Algo Nuevo De Ayer and Leoni Torres with Cualquiera Se Enamora. Pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba earned two nods: Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album for Gonzalo Plays Pino and Best Instrumental Album for A Tribute To Benny Moré And Nat King Cole, a project shared with Joey Calveiro and Cuban saxophonist Yainer Horta.

Also nominated are Alex Cuba for Best Contemporary Tropical Album (Indole), Yeisy Rojas for Best Tropical Song (Latino), and composer Tania León for Best Classical Composition for Raíces (Origins) - Live. The nominations cover an eligibility window from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026.

Fuente: Latin Recording Academy / Billboard

Omara Portuondo Peláez

Singer, Society

There is something cinematic about the story of Omara Portuondo. Daughter of a woman from a Spanish family who abandoned her social circle to marry a handsome black player from the Cuban national baseball team—which forced her to hide this union in public, since mixed marriages were not well regarded in Cuba at that time—Omara came into contact with music in her earliest childhood. Like in any other Cuban home, the future singer and her siblings grew up surrounded by the music that their parents sang, lacking a gramophone.