Daddy Yankee was honored at the Persona del Año 2026 gala in Las Vegas on Wednesday, November 11, in a tribute show that ran more than three hours. The ceremony packed a dinner, live performances, and a late-stage appearance from the honoree himself.
MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom
The event took place at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom, where the Academia Latina de la Grabación used the night to mark Daddy Yankee as one of reggaetón’s pioneers. Manuel Abud said, “Por primera vez en la historia, la Academia distingue a uno de los grandes pioneros del reggaetón […] Hoy nos reunimos para celebrar su trayectoria. Su música ha unido a las personas a través de la música, la cultura y las generaciones.”
Abud also told the audience, “Hoy será un recorrido muy especial por tu carrera musical. Tenemos sorpresas, momentos por primera vez y música que creemos que te inspiró.” That framing turned the tribute into a catalog-wide showcase, with performers moving across different eras and styles rather than building around a single hit.
Gasolina to Despacito
Jorge Drexler opened the tribute, and DJ Playero followed with some of Daddy Yankee’s earliest hits. Anthony Ramos then started the musical set with a salsa version of “Coraza divina,” a nod to the 2007 album The Cartel: The Big Boss, which included the song.
Tito El Bambino, Jowell, Randy, Feid, and Trueno performed “Gasolina,” while The Sugar Hill Gang surprised him with “Rapper’s Delight.” J Noa, Paulo Londra, Trueno, Feid, and Ryan Castro later ran through a medley that included “Rompe,” “Gangsta Zone,” “Talento de barrio,” and “Somos de calle,” keeping the pace on a night built around range more than repetition.
Reik and Luísa Sonza performed a bossa nova version of “Ella me levantó,” Farruko, Rawayana, and Kapo handled “La despedida” in reggae form, and Natalia Jiménez and Pablo Alborán sang “De vuelta pa’ la vuelta” as a ballad. Tito Nieves, Oscar D’León, and Nathy Peluso closed one of the night’s most pointed set pieces with “Despacito” in salsa style, while Pedro Capó and Elena Rose performed “Ora por mí.”
J Balvin and LL Cool J
J Balvin and LL Cool J came onstage near the end of the night to review Daddy Yankee’s career and bring him to the stage. He attended the gala with his parents, his son, and his brothers, which gave the final stretch a family frame after the performance-heavy first part of the evening.
Daddy Yankee said, “Estoy sin palabras,” before starting his acceptance speech with, “Primero quiero darle la Gloria a Dios, no por costumbre sino porque si hoy estoy parado aquí es por su”. The line cut off there, leaving the tribute with an unfinished thought at the exact point where the night shifted from celebration to personal testimony.
That unfinished sentence is the sharpest detail from a ceremony built to show the size of his catalog and the length of his influence. The production treated him like a legacy act already written into the industry’s history, and the abrupt end of the quote made the room feel less polished, more human, and a little more revealing than the usual awards-night script.
