Rubén Blades

Acting

Born: 1948-07-16
From: Panama City, Panama
Gender: Male
Popularity: 0.7

Also Known As

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna

Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres. As songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and political inspired Nuyorican salsa to his music, creating thinking persons' (salsa) dance music. Blades has composed dozens of musical hits, the most famous of which is "Pedro Navaja," a song about a neighborhood thug who appears to die during a robbery (his song "Sorpresas" continues the story), inspired by "Mack the Knife." He also composed and sings what many Panamanians consider their second national anthem. The song is titled "Patria" (Fatherland). He is an icon in Panama and is much admired throughout Latin America, and managed to attract 18% of the vote in his failed attempt to win the Panamanian presidency in 1994. In September 2004, he was appointed minister of tourism by Panamanian president Martín Torrijos for a five-year term. He holds a law degree from the University of Panama and a master's in international law from Harvard University. He is married to singer Luba Mason. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rubén Blades, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & Nominations13 won · 0 nominated

🏆 Won

Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album

2024
🏆 Won

Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year

2021
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year

2021
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album

2021
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Tropical Song

2020
🏆 Won

Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts

2018
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album

Salsa Big Band

2017
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year

Salsa Big Band

2017
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album

2015
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album

2011
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album

Cantares del Subdesarrollo

2010
🏆 Won

Latin Grammy Hall of Fame

Siembra

2007
🏆 Won

International Latin Music Hall of Fame

2001

Acting62 titles

Writing1 title

Sound9 titles