1988 in Latin music

This is a list of notable events in Latin music (music from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America, Latin Europe, and the United States) that took place in 1988.

Events

March 2 – The 30th Annual Grammy Awards are held at The Radio City Music Hall in New York City:^[1]
- Julio Iglesias wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance for Un Hombre Solo.
- Los Tigres del Norte wins the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Performance for Gracias!... América... Sin Fronteras.
- Eddie Palmieri wins the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance for La Verdad/The Truth.

Number-ones albums and singles by country

Awards

1988 Tejano Music Awards

Albums released

August

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
28	Caifanes	Caifanes	Alternative Rock		Ariola, RCA

September

Day	Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
Unknown Date	La Pistola y El Corazón	Los Lobos	Norteno, Son, Ranchera, Mariachi	"La Guacamaya" "Las Amarillas" "La Pistola y el Corazón"	Slash, Warner Bros. Records, Slash, Warner Bros. Records

Dates unknown

Title	Artist	Genre(s)	Singles	Label
Con Tambora	Joan Sebastian	Ranchera, Banda		Musart Premier, Musart
Aire	Yuri	Ballad		EMI Mexico
Si Me Recuerdas	Los Bukis	Ballad		Sono-Rodven
La Luna Será La Luna	Beatriz Adriana	Ballad, Ranchera		Profono Internacional, Inc.
Desde Andalucía	Isabel Pantoja	Ballad		RCA International
Las apariencias engañan	Raphael	Ballad		Discos CBS International
Antecedente	Rubén Blades	Salsa, Bolero, Cha-Cha, Rumba		Elektra, Elektra
Isla del Sol	Yuri	Italo-Disco, Latin, Synth-Pop		Discos CBS International
Como Tu Mujer	Rocío Dúrcal	Ballad	"Como Tu Mujer"	Ariola
Tierra de Nadie	Ana Gabriel	Vocal, Romantic, Ballad		Discos CBS International
Chayanne (1988)	Chayanne	Afro-Cuban, Ballad		Discos CBS International
Busca una Mujer	Luis Miguel	Pop rock, Ballad		WEA
Al Norte del Sur	Franco De Vita	Ballad		Columbia, Sonografica
Musica Criolla Todo el Ano	José Nogueras
La Espera	José Luis Perales	Ballad		CBS
Apasianado	Glenn Monroig
De Corazón a Corazón	Eydie Gormé	Bolero, Latin Pop		Discos CBS International
El Hombre Que Yo Amo	Caridad Canelón	Ballad		Sonotone Latin Records
Non Stop	Julio Iglesias	Vocal, Ballad		Columbia, Columbia
Debo Hacerlo	Juan Gabriel	Ballad, Bolero, Mariachi, Ranchera		Ariola
Con Todos Los Sentidos	Braulio	Vocal, Ballad		Discos CBS International
Ni Por Mil Punados De Oro	Xelencia			Cara
Straight From the Heart	La Mafia
Un Golpe Más	Bronco	Cumbia, Norteno, Ballad		Fonovisa
Los Ídolos del Pueblo	Los Caminantes	Conjunto		Luna International
La Guerra de las Sonoras	Sonora Santanera and La Sonora Dinamita
The Party is Here	Fandango USA
Un Puño de Tierra	Ramón Ayala & Bravos del Norte	Norteno, Ranchera		Freddie Records
Que Tristeza	Los Humildes	Ranchera, Cumbia, Ballad		Fonovisa
Esclavo y Rey	Grupo Vennus	Ballad, Conjunto		Tesoro Records
El Caballo...una Leyenda	Johnny Ventura	Merengue		Discos CBS International, Discos CBS International
Ritmo en el Corazón	Celia Cruz and Ray Barretto	Salsa, Cha-Cha, Guaracha, Guaguanco, Latin Jazz		Fania Records
De Amor y Salsa	Gilberto Santa Rosa	Salsa, Guaguanco		Combo Records, Combo Records
Con Más Empuje	Willie Berrios	Merengue		Sonotone
Toco Madera	Orquesta La Mulenze
Bobby Valentín	Bobby Valentín	Salsa, Guaguanco		Bronco
Orgullo de Puerto Rico	Costa Brava	Salsa		Hitt Makers
Más Que Atrevido	Conjunto Chaney	Salsa		Hitt Makers
No es Suficiente	José Medina y Su Orquesta
Ricardo Montaner, Vol. 2	Ricardo Montaner
Alma Gemela	Flans	Ballad, Chanson, Europop		Melody Platino Especial, Melody Platino Especial
Mister E	Pete Escovedo	Afro-Cuban, Fusion, Salsa		Crossover Records
Flaco's Amigos	Flaco Jiménez	Tejano	"La Tumba Sera el Final" "Lucerito" "Jennette"	Arhoolie Records
Ídolos del Pueblo	Los Tigres del Norte	Corrido, Ranchera, Cumbia		Fonovisa Records
Vida Nueva	Los Freddy's			EMI Pope
Debo Hacerlo	Juan Gabriel	Ballad, Bolero, Mariachi, Ranchera		Ariola
Mascarada	Joan Sebastian	Ballad		Internacional, Codiscos
Romántico y Sabroso	El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico	Salsa		Combo Records
El Jeque	Tommy Olivencia	Guaguanco, Salsa		TH-Rodven, TH-Rodven
No Me Olvidarás	José Javier Solís	Ballad		Profono Internacional, Inc.
Porque Estás Enamorada	Los Bríos	Ballad		Musivisa
Más Que Atrevido	¡Conjunto Chaney!	Salsa		Hitt Makers
Psicoacústica	Ira!	Pop rock		WEA, WEA, WEA

Best-selling records

Best-selling albums

The following is a list of the top 5 best-selling Latin albums of 1988 in the United States divided into the categories of Latin pop, Regional Mexican, and Tropical/salsa, according to Billboard.^[2]

Category	Rank	Album	Artist
Latin pop	1	Soy Así	José José
	2	Señor Corazón	José Luis Rodríguez
	3	Un Hombre Solo	Julio Iglesias
	4	Entre Lunas	Emmanuel
	5	Amor Libre: 12 Grandes Exitos	Camilo Sesto
Regional Mexican	1	Si Me Recuerdas	Los Bukis
	2	Petalos y Espinas	Los Yonics
	3	Me Volvi a Acordar de Ti	Los Bukis
	4	Canciones de Mi Padre	Linda Ronstadt
	5	Super Bronco	Bronco
Tropical/Salsa	1	Sigo Atrevido	Eddie Santiago
	2	Un Nuevo Despertar	Lalo Rodríguez
	3	Historia Musical de Frankie Ruiz	Frankie Ruiz
	4	El Baile	Wilfrido Vargas
	5	El Original y el Unico	Willie Gonzalez

Best-performing songs

The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 1988, according to Billboard.^[3]

Rank	Single	Artist
1	"Ay Amor"	Ana Gabriel
2	"Qué Te Pasa"	Yuri
3	"Y Tú También Llorarás"	José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma"
4	"María"	Franco
5	"Debo Hacerlo"	Juan Gabriel
6	"Toco Madera"	Raphael
7	"Soy Así"	José José
8	"Un Alma en Pena"	Lucía Méndez
9	"La Ultima Luna"	Emmanuel
10	"Negra"	Roberto Carlos

Deaths

January 11 – Janires, Brazilian singer-songwriter, 34 (bus accident)^[4]
February 3 – Radamés Gnattali, Brazilian composer, 81^[5]
July 18 – Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor, 64^[6]
December 26 – Pablo Sorozábal, Spanish composer, 91^[7]

References

^ Hilburn, Robert (3 March 1988). "U2, Paul Simon Winners of Major Grammy Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
^ "The Year in Music: 1988". Billboard. December 24, 1988. p. YE-36–38. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ "Topping The Charts Year By Year". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 28, 1998. p. LMQ3. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
^ "Saudades do Amigo" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Carlinhos Veiga.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Gnattali, Nelly (1997). "Radamés Gnattali". Radamés Gnattali: Sonatina em ré maior para flauta e piano. Rio de Janeiro: Irmãos Vitale. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-85-85188-71-9. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
^ The Annual Obituary. St. Martin's. 1993. p. 944.
^ Robert Ignatius Letellier (19 October 2015). Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 894. ISBN 978-1-4438-8508-9.

[1] Hilburn, Robert (3 March 1988). "U2, Paul Simon Winners of Major Grammy Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 April 2019.

[2] "The Year in Music: 1988". Billboard. December 24, 1988. p. YE-36–38. ISSN 0006-2510.

[billboardmag-3] "Topping The Charts Year By Year". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 28, 1998. p. LMQ3. Retrieved March 3, 2010.

[4] "Saudades do Amigo" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Carlinhos Veiga.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[5] Gnattali, Nelly (1997). "Radamés Gnattali". Radamés Gnattali: Sonatina em ré maior para flauta e piano. Rio de Janeiro: Irmãos Vitale. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-85-85188-71-9. Retrieved 17 January 2026.

[6] The Annual Obituary. St. Martin's. 1993. p. 944.

[7] Robert Ignatius Letellier (19 October 2015). Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 894. ISBN 978-1-4438-8508-9.

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