One of salsa’s most legendary voices is getting another major honour.

Panamanian singer, songwriter and musician Rubén Blades will receive the Billboard Icon Award at the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards, recognizing a career that has influenced Latin music for more than five decades.

The award will be presented on October 22 in Miami during the Billboard Latin Music Awards at the James L. Knight Center.

Blades emerged as one of the defining figures of New York’s salsa movement during the 1970s, helping push the genre beyond the dance floor with socially conscious lyrics and storytelling about everyday life in Latin America.

Classics including “Pedro Navaja,” “Decisiones” and “El Padre Antonio y Su Monaguillo Andrés” helped establish Blades as one of Latin music’s most influential songwriters. Over his career, he has recorded more than 25 albums and written hundreds of songs while experimenting with jazz, rock and other Latin sounds.

The Billboard Icon Award recognizes artists whose careers have maintained long-term relevance while making a major artistic and commercial impact on their genre. Previous recipients include Ivy Queen, Maná, Chayanne and Laura Pausini.

At 78, Blades remains active in music, continuing to record and tour internationally. He recently released “País Portátil”with Roberto Delgado y Orquesta.

Blades will also participate in a special Icon Q&A during Billboard Latin Music Week, which runs October 19–22 in Miami.

For salsa fans, the recognition celebrates an artist whose music has helped tell Latin American stories to the world for more than half a century.

A true icon of salsa.