Rubén Blades to Receive Billboard Icon Award in Miami on Oct. 22

Rubén Blades will receive the Billboard Icon Award at the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Oct. 22, the ceremony that closes Billboard Latin Music Week in Miami.

The ceremony will be held at the James L. Knight Center and air live at 8 p.m. ET. NBCUniversal News Group said the show will be carried on Telemundo and streamed on Peacock.

Before the award, Blades took part in a conversation at Billboard Latin Music Week. On Oct. 21, he spoke on the Icon Q&A panel, which was moderated by Leila Cobo, Billboard's co-chief content officer. Billboard reported on his remarks about his career.

His recording career spans more than five decades. Blades has also moved into film. He appeared in Campeón Gabacho, directed by Jonás Cuarón, and he has an upcoming role in Porto Rico. That film is the first fiction feature directed by René Pérez, the musician known as Residente. It is also Bad Bunny's debut as a lead actor.

Blades has been recognised before. The Latin Recording Academy named him its Person of the Year in 2021. In 2024, he entered a global partnership with Virgin Music Group, a deal that covers his music across markets worldwide. For readers who want a longer look at his life, the 2018 documentary Rubén Blades Is Not My Name, directed by Panamanian filmmaker Abner Benaim, follows his career and musical legacy.

The Icon Award is one of several honours on the Oct. 22 programme. Rosalía will receive the 2026 Billboard Hall of Fame Award, the honour Billboard announced for her on Oct. 1. Billboard Latin Music Week ran from Oct. 19 to 22 at Miami Beach, and the awards night brings the week to its close.

For the people who work the event, the week is a long run of panels, showcases and late nights. For fans, it is a chance to see an artist receive a major honour in front of a live audience and a national TV audience on the same night.