Rubén Blades to Receive Icon Award at 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards
Rubén Blades will receive the Icon Award at the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Billboard and Telemundo announced the honour on Sept. 17. The ceremony takes place on Oct. 22.
The show will be broadcast live from the James L. Knight Center in Miami. It will air on Telemundo at 8 p.m. ET. It will also be available live through the Telemundo app, Peacock and Telemundo Internacional across Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Billboard.
Blades will appear in the days before the trophy is presented. Billboard Latin Music Week runs Oct. 19-22 in Miami Beach. He is scheduled to take part in an Icon Q&A with Leila Cobo, Billboard’s co-chief content officer.
Blades is 77. His career has run for more than 50 years. Earlier this year, he accepted Billboard’s 2026 Indie Icon Award at Indie Power Players 2026.
Previous recipients of the Billboard Latin Music Awards Icon Award include Maná, Chayanne, Ivy Queen and Laura Pausini. The new announcement puts Blades in that line. It also brings a long career back to centre stage in Miami.
This year’s awards race has a clear frontrunner. Peso Pluma leads the 2026 finalists with 17 mentions. Tito Double P follows with 15. Fuerza Regida has 12.
Those totals refer to finalist places, the shortlists drawn from chart performance that decide who contends on the night. The winners will be revealed during the Oct. 22 ceremony. Blades will be honoured separately from those contested categories.
The 2026 ceremony is produced by Telemundo and MBS Special Events. Tickets to attend in person are available through Ticketmaster. For viewers at home, the Telemundo broadcast remains the main route, with streaming options for app and Peacock users.
For fans, this means two chances to see Blades in one week. The Q&A offers talk. The awards night brings the presentation. Both take place in Miami, three days apart.
