Juanes, Prince Royce Salute ‘Living Legends’ Roberto Carlos, Juan Luis Guerra at Latin Grammys

Colombian rock star Juanes, Spanish singer-songwriter Natalia Jiménez and Dominican crooners Prince Royce and Leslie Grace performed three charming renditions to the show’s “living legends” Julio Iglesias, Roberto Carlos, and Juan Luis Guerra at the 2020 Latin Grammys.

Wearing a fluffy retro-like dress, Jiménez opened up with a homage of Julio Iglesias’ “Hey!,” delivering a passionate vibrato that matched hearts with the Spanish icon. Iglesias is known for his gut-wrenching romantic songs that rose to global prominence in the Sixties and Seventies, paving the way for the classic generation of romantic Latin-pop crooners of that era.

With a swaggering sneer, Juanes then joined the stage singing “El Gato Está Triste y Azul” by the Brazilian icon Roberto Carlos, who rose to stardom during the same time as Iglesias. The Colombian star showcased his breathy, heartfelt vocals as he conveyed the classic song with endearment and respect. Last year, Juanes joined the roster of Latin icons as The Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year; Iglesias, Carlos, and Guerra have all been previously honored.

This year, Juanes was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song among a few more bids. In 2019, he released Más Futuro Que Pasado. “Futuro gives me a lot of hope,” Juanes told Rolling Stone in 2019. “Esperanza, you know — Más Futuro Que Pasado is about having the drive to keep experimenting. I want to keep writing music, I want to live more. This is the point of my life when I want to live so much. But before I do anything, I start from the roots. And from there I build my vision.”

Lastly, Dominican New Yorkers Prince Royce and Leslie Grace appeared as a duet singing Juan Luis Guerra’s “Burbujas de Amor,” the slinky, salacious bachata song that propelled the century-old genre to global acclaim in the early Nineties. Juan Luis Guerra internationalized and revolutionized bachata in the mentioned decade, with his breakthrough album Bachata Rosa. The two New York performers have notably followed Guerra’s footsteps, adding a more modern twist to the vintage style, as heard in Royce’s latest 2020 album Alter Ego.