The legendary Panamanian singer/songwriter will receive the Icon Award at the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Leila Cobo and Rubén Blades speak onstage at the Icon Q&A with Ruben Blades during Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 held at Furia Miami on October 21, 2026 in Miami Beach, Florida. Jose "Chepe" Devillegas

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Colombian Nobel Prize in Literature winner Gabriel García Márquez considered himself more of a writer than a singer, says Rubén Blades . But the legendary Panamanian singer/songwriter sees himself more as a “journalist” who “tries to be as objective as possible within the subjectivity of creating a song.”

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“What I wrote was honest and I still feel that way,” Blades said on Wednesday (Oct. 21) during the Icon Q&A With Rubén Blades panel, moderated by Billboard ‘s co-chief content officer Leila Cobo at Billboard Latin Music Week .

Entire generations across Latin America and the U.S.…