# Inside the 2026 Person of the Year Gala Honoring Daddy Yankee: ‘I Couldn’t Believe Everything I Had Built’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/inside-the-2026-person-of-the-year-gala-honoring-daddy-yankee-i-couldnt-believe-everything-i-had-built/
- Published: 2026-11-12T09:39:33+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-12T10:26:35+00:00
- Original publisher: Billboard
- Original article: https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/2026-person-of-the-year-gala-daddy-yankee-highlights-1236379444/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Daddy Yankee was named the Latin Recording Academy’s 2026 Person of the Year.
- Artists across generations performed new versions of his hits.
- He closed the gala with three songs of his own.

## Summary

Daddy Yankee was honoured as the Latin Recording Academy’s 2026 Person of the Year at a gala in Las Vegas, celebrating a career that helped take reggaetón from underground scenes to a global audience. The tribute brought performers from across generations together to reinterpret his songs, reflecting his influence on Latin music.

The invite-only dinner and presentation lasted more than three hours and included performances by Anthony Ramos, Tito El Bambino, Jowell y Randy, Feid, The Sugar Hill Gang and others. Yankee thanked the artists and said he could hardly believe what he had built, adding that the songs belonged to their listeners. He closed the gala with three of his own tracks; his career spans nearly 30 years, including the 2004 hit “Gasolina”.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.