Top Latin music artists

Romeo Santos photographed in 2015.

Meredith Jenks

These are the top of the top: The top 10 acts on Billboard’s Top Latin Artists Year-End list.

Yes, it’s a mouthful to say, but, with good reason.

Our Top Latin Artists Year-End list provides the most complete, holistic summary of an artist’s achievements through the year. Our ranking is based on chart performance on the Hot Latin Songs (which includes airplay, single sales, and streaming data) and Top Latin Albums (which reflects album sales), as well as Boxscore touring revenue, Social 50 chart activity and ringtone sales.

Our top 10 acts, led by Romeo Santos, reflect the extraordinary diversity of Latin music in the U.S. They include pop, urban and regional Mexican music - artists young, old and even dead (Ariel Camacho). They include traditional music and groundbreaking beats. They include music in Spanish, music that has crossed over, artists that don’t speak a lick of English and artists who are comfortably bilingual and bicultural.

1. Romeo Santos: At No. 1 for the second straight year, Romeo Santos is the gift that keeps on giving. Even though his Formula, Vol. 2 was released in 2014 and topped the 2014 year-end charts, it kept right on selling in 2015, ending the year as the second most-sold album behind Juan Gabriel. The album remained active on the chart because Santos also had two singles - “Propuesta indecente” and “Hilito” - place in the year-end Hot Latin Songs Top 10. Of those, “Propuesta” broke the record as the most long-enduring song on the chart, ever. To date, it’s spent 124 weeks on the chart, 123 of those on the top 10. On the streaming charts, Santos was equally impressive. Four of the 10 most-streamed songs of the year are his.

2. Juan Gabriel

Juan Gabriel performs on stage during Volver 2015 Tour at Viejas Arena on Feb. 6, 2015 in San Diego, California.

Daniel Knighton/WireImage

Juan Gabriel performs on stage during Volver 2015 Tour at Viejas Arena on Feb. 6, 2015 in San Diego, California. Daniel Knighton/WireImage

The Mexican romantic pop icon had one of the most outstanding years of his remarkable 44-year musical career in 2015. His latest album, Los Duo, a collection of his hits performed as duets with fellow Latin music stars from diverse genres and several generations, is the bestselling Latin album of the year.

The album earned the 65-year-old Gabriel his first No. 1 on Top Latin Albums in 18 years (his last was his collaborative effort Juntos Otra Vez alongside Rocio Durcal that topped the chart in 1997). Los Duo spent a total of seven (nonconsecutive) weeks at No. 1 in 2015. Gabriel crowns his year as the only artist to have two albums in the top five Latin albums of the year. His live album Aniversario comes in at No. 5.

3. Enrique Iglesias:

Enrique Iglesias

Courtesy Photo

Enrique IglesiasCourtesy Photo

If Romeo is the gift that keeps on giving, so is Enrique Iglesias. His single “Bailando, ” feat. Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona, set a new Hot Latin Songs record for weeks at No. 1: 41. It ended the year at No. 10 on our year-end Hot Latin Songs chart and at No. 1 on the Latin streaming chart. It also became the first Spanish language song with over a billion YouTube views. And Sex and Love was the seventh top-selling album of the year.

4. J Balvin

J Balvin at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 19, 2015 in Las Vegas.

Getty Images

J Balvin at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 19, 2015 in Las Vegas.Getty Images

For the Colombian urban act, 2015 represented the beginning of his crossover. Not only did he collaborate on ‘Lean On’ (Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. MØ), he also gave Latin flavor to Justin Bieber's 'Sorry’ (remix). His latest song, "Ginza, " replaced Nicky Jam’s “El Perdon” at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs where it has spent 10 weeks so far. Balvin’s success went beyond “Ginza.” His “6 a.m.” and “Ay Vamos” both placed in the top 10 of the Latin Streaming Songs chart. “Ay Vamos” and “Ginza” end the year at No. 4 and 5 respectively on the Hot Latin Songs chart.

5. Nicky Jam:

Nicky Jam

Nicky JamCourtesy Photo

Nicky Jam had already set precedent with his “Travesuras.” But “El Perdón” with Enrique Iglesias catapulted him to stardom. The track spent 30 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs, a record only broken by “Bailando.” It became the only Latin video to win in the 2015 YouTube music awards, and an English-language version - “Forgivenes” - helped the song peak at No. 56 on the Hot 100 in September. The track ends the year at No. 1 on the hot Latin Songs year-end chart. Nicky Jam also best exemplified a new breed of Latin artist - one that could gain quick traction on the basis of singles rather than albums. It helped that Nicky Jam had a distinct, a new approach to urban music and pop appeal.