Daddy Yankee received the Latin Recording Academy's 2026 Person of the Year honor at the 27th Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday, Nov. 12, with Janet Jackson presenting the award "with admiration and respect."
The Puerto Rican star is the first Latin urbano artist to receive the honor. At the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, he performed his biggest hits, including "Gasolina," joined on stage by Bizarrap, Bad Gyal, Feid, Jay Wheeler, French Montana, LL Cool J and Diljit Dosanjh.
The recognition comes after a very different chapter. Daddy Yankee announced his retirement in 2022 with Legendaddy. At his farewell concert in Puerto Rico in December 2023, he said his life would now center on his Christian faith. He has since returned to music with Lamento en Baile, whose single "Sonríele" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Latin Airplay chart.
Earlier this week, he visited students at Las Vegas' Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts as part of the Latin Grammy In The Schools program. There he said he believes he was "born for a bigger purpose than singing, to serve."
Coachella announced on Nov. 11 that Daddy Yankee will make his debut at the 2027 festival with special "In the Desert" billing. It runs April 9-11 and April 16-18 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, and is led by Dua Lipa, Tame Impala and SZA.
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