List of Billboard Latin Pop Albums number ones from the 1980s


Man with grey hair wearing a light blue tuxedo is smiling at the camera.
José José (pictured in 2011) was the first artist to reach number one on the Latin Pop Albums chart in 1985. He also had the most number one albums of the 1980s with a total of four albums.

In June 1985, Billboard magazine established Latin Pop Albums, a chart that ranks the best-selling Latin pop albums in the United States. The chart was published on a fortnightly basis with its positions being compiled by sales data from Latin music retailers and distributors.[1][2] According to Billboard, Latin pop includes "the music known as the balada romántica or música interacional" as well as "young pop sounds" and "the new Spanish-language rock".[3] Latin pop emerged as the most commercially successful genre of Latin music throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the US,[4] and the popularity of the balada was propelled by artists such as Julio Iglesias, Camilo Sesto, and Gloria Estefan (lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine at the time).[5] During the 1980s, 22 albums topped the chart.

The first album to reach number one on the Latin Pop Album chart was Reflexiones (1984) by José José.[1] José José was also the artist with the most number-one albums of the 1980s with Promesas (1985), Siempre Contigo (1986), and Soy Así (1987).[6] The three records were the best-selling Latin pop albums of 1986–88, respectively.[7][8][9] Promesas was the longest-running number one with 17 weeks.[6] The Miami Sound Machine was the only band to reach number one in the 1980s with their album Primitive Love (1985). Primitive Love spawned the crossover single, "Conga",[10] which peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[11]

Iglesias and Emmanuel were the only other artists to have more than two chart-toppers. Iglesias, who has been recognized as the best-selling male Latin artist of all-time by the Guinness World Records,[12] spent a total of 29 weeks at the apex of the chart with his albums Libra (1985), Un Hombre Solo (1987), and Raíces (1989).[13] Five female acts reached number one on the chart during the 1980s: Ángela Carrasco, Ana Gabriel, Rocío Jurado, Yolandita Monge, and Isabel Pantoja. Pantoja had the best-selling Latin pop album of 1989 with Desde Andalucía (1988) and won the Lo Nuestro Award for Pop Album of the Year in the same year.[14][15] Gabriel culminated the decade with Tierra de Nadie (1988). Recognized as her breakthrough album, it won the Pop Album of the Year award at the following Lo Nuestro Awards.[15][16]

  1. ^ a b Trust, Gary (March 19, 2010). "Ask Billboard: Battle Of The Rock Bands, Part 2". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  2. ^ "Billboard's Latin Charts Switch to SoundScan". Billboard. July 10, 1993. pp. 4, 71. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2013 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Debut for New Latin Charts". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 26. June 29, 1985. p. 3. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Knights, Vanessa (April 29, 2016). Music, National Identity and the Politics of Location: Between the Global and the Local. Routledge. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-317-09160-8. Archived from the original on April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Torres, George (March 27, 2013). Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-10919-8. Archived from the original on April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b "José José - Chart history: Latin Pop Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference yearend86 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference yearend87 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference yearend88 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Primitive Love — Miami Sound Machine". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  11. ^ "Gloria Estefan – Chart history: Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  12. ^ "Julio Iglesias en record Guiness" (in Spanish). Telemundo. April 2, 2013. Archived from the original on April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  13. ^ "Julio Iglesias - Chart history: Latin Pop Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference yearend89 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b "Lo Nuestro – Historia" (in Spanish). Univision. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  16. ^ Felci, Michael (July 29, 2005). "Hot Picks". The Desert Sun. p. W3. ProQuest 439713063. Archived from the original on April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024. A stage veteran since age 6, Gabriel burst onto the Tijuana music scene in 1977 with a spirited recording of 'Comprendeme' before breaking through for good with her 1988 album, 'Tierra De Nadie,' which included the smash hit, 'Simplemente Amigos.'