Elvis Crespo will receive the Billboard Hall of Fame Award at the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, they announced Billboard and Telemundo Tuesday October 14.
The Puerto Rican merengue star will also give a performance at the ceremony – airing Thursday, October 23 on Telemundo – celebrating his legendary career and lasting impact. Crespo will be joined on stage by emerging Dominican artist Ebenezer Guerra, merengue legend Toño Rosario and Dominican urban artist La Insuperable.
“Receiving the Billboard Hall of Fame Award is one of the greatest honors of my career,” Crespo said in a statement. “This award is not just for me, it is for merengue, for Puerto Rico and for all the fans who danced and celebrated life with my music. Sharing this moment on the stage of the Billboard Latin Music Awards is something truly unforgettable.”
The Billboard Hall of Fame Award celebrates a career that goes beyond musical performances and takes into account the incredible influence the artist has on a global scale in multiple fields, according to the press release. Previous winners of this award include Vicente Fernández, Rocío Dúrcal, Marco Antonio Solís, Joan Sebastian and Marc Anthony, among others.
Crespo will be recognized for a three-decade musical career that includes his global hits “Suavemente” and “Tu Smile,” which made him a cultural phenomenon. “Suavemente” tops the Hot Latin Songs chart Billboard for six weeks in 1998 and “Your Smile” reached #1 for two weeks that same year. In addition to these merengue classics, Crespo crossed genres with hits like “Azukita” with Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee and Play-N-Skillz, and “Bailar” with Deorro.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on Telemundo and will be available for streaming via the Telemundo and Peacock apps, in addition to being broadcast throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional. Tickets for the event are now available on Ticketmaster.
Crespo joins a long list of artists confirmed for the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, such as Carlos Vives, Danny Ocean, Emilia, Grupo Frontera, Kapo, Laura Pausini, Netón Vega, Olga Tañón, Óscar Maydon, Peso Pluma, Ozuna, Wisin and Xavi.
The awards coincide with Billboard Latin Music Week, which will take place at the Fillmore Miami Beach October 20-24. The full schedule and ticket sales are available at BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.
