Leslie Grace to Perform Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” at the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Leslie Grace can’t control herself any longer…

The 30-year-old Dominican American singer & actress will perform at the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame gala, which is presented jointly by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum.

Taking place on Friday, May 16 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, the site of the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959, the event will feature performances that pay tribute to the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame inducted recordings, which were revealed on February 13.

Grace, a former Latin Grammy nominee will deliver Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine’s 1985 breakthrough hit, “Conga.”

Released in September 1985, the festive recording was Miami Sound Machine’s first Billboard Hot 100 hit.

“Conga,” which was written by Miami Sound Machine drummer Enrique Garcia,was the first single from the group’s second English-language album, Primitive Love.

Gloria Estefan assumed star billing in 1987 with the similarly infectious “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.” She and husband Emilio received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2019. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame four years later. She won her fourth Grammy on February 2 for best global music performance as a featured artist on Sheila E.’s “Bemba Colorá.”

Returning as host is CBS News journalist Anthony Mason.

The show will be produced by Ken Ehrlich, alongside Ron Basile, Lindsay Saunders Carl and Lynne Sheridan.

This year’s additions to the Grammy Hall of Fame meet the main requirements – they exhibit “qualitative or historical significance” and are at least 25 years old. Eligible artist(s), producer(s), engineer(s), and mixer(s) of these 13 recordings will receive a certificate from the Recording Academy.

The Grammy Hall of Fame was established by the Recording Academy’s national trustees in 1973. Inducted recordings are selected annually by a member committee drawn from all branches of the recording arts with final ratification by the academy’s national board of trustees. Counting the 13 new titles in 2025, the Grammy Hall of Fame totals 1,165 inducted recordings.

The full list of past inducted recordings can be found here.

The Grammy Hall of Fame Gala serves as a fundraiser to support the Grammy Museum’s national education programs. It includes a cocktail reception, dinner, and concert program. Tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $1,250. For more information, visit this site.

An online auction is currently underway, featuring a collection of guitars signed by such artists as Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Chris Martin, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars. They are also auctioning off platinum tickets to the 68th Grammy Awards and more.

Alamo Drafthouse Bringing Prince’s Concert Film “Sign O’ The Times,” Featuring Sheila E. Back to Theaters

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Sheila E will be spending some Times in a theater near you…

Alamo Drafthouse is teaming up with distributor FilmRise to bring back to the big screen Prince’s concert film Sign O’ The Times, featuring the 64-year-old half-Mexican American percussionist, singer, author, and actress, for its 35th anniversary.

The new 4K presentation will run at 24 locations in New York, LA and nationwide starting April 1.

“Sign O’ The Times is, without a doubt, one of Prince’s greatest achievements as an artist,” says Alamo Drafthouse film programmer Jake Isgar. “We’re thrilled at the opportunity to be a part of preserving and presenting his musical legacy.”

The film captures the late singer songwriter at the height of his most prolific period, following the platinum-selling double album of the same name.

The screening is part of Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse’s ‘Play It Loud’ limited series, running through March and into April with classic rock/pop performance films including Josie and the Pussycats, A Hard Day’s Night, and Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same.

Price died in 2016 at age 57 of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park studio and home in Minnesota.

Sign o’ the Times, released in 1987, was Prince’s ninth studio album. Singles included “Sign o’ the Times” and “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” While not as commercially successful as 1984 blockbuster Puple Rain, it was considered by some his best. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.

Recording Academy Adds Two Linda Ronstadt Albums to Grammy Hall of Fame, Including “Canciones de Mi Padre”

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Linda Ronstadt is pulling a double…

The Recording Academy has announced 29 songs and albums that it’ll add to the Grammy Hall of Fame, with the 74-year-old half-Mexican American singer landing two albums on the list.

Ronstadt’s Spanish-language album Canciones de Mi Padre, released in 1987, has earned a place in the Grammy Hall.

Ronstadt’s first album of Mexican traditional Mariachi music immediately became a global smash. It sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S. and has been RIAA certified double-platinum. It won Ronstadt the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album at the 31st Grammy Awards.

Ronstadt was also recognized for Trio, the country album she made with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. It was also released in 1987.

The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and has also received several accolades, including the Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

The Grammy Hall now includes 1,142 recordings.

“We are proud to announce this year’s diverse roster of Grammy Hall of Fame inductees and to recognize recordings that have shaped our industry and inspires music makers of tomorrow,” Harvey Mason Jr., chair and interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Each recording has had a significant impact on our culture, and it is an honor to add them to our distinguished catalog.”

Here’s the full list of 2021 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees:

“Au Clair de la Lune,” Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville, single (c. 1853-61)
“Blues Breakers,” John Mayall with Eric Clapton, album (1966)
“Canciones de Mi Padre,” Linda Ronstadt, album (1987)
“Clean Up Woman,” Betty Wright, single (1971)
“Copenhagen,” Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra, single (1924)
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey, single (1981)
“Freight Train,” Elizabeth Cotton, single (1958)
“Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” Bruce Springsteen, album (1973)
“Horses,” Patti Smith, album (1975)
“Hot Buttered Soul,” Isaac Hayes, album (1969)
“In the Right Place,” Dr. John, album (1973)
“Licensed to Ill,” Beastie Boys, album (1986)
“Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” Joe Cocker, album (1970)
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at ‘The Club’,” The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, album (1966)
“Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major,” Leonard Bernstein with the Philharmonia Orchestra Of London, album (1948)
“Schoenberg: The Four String Quartets,” Kolisch String Quartet, album (1937)
“So,” Peter Gabriel, album (1986)
“Solitude,” Billie Holiday, single (1952)
“Ten,” Pearl Jam, album (1991)
“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, album (1983)
“The Cars,” The Cars, album (1978)
“The Gambler,” Kenny Rogers, single (1978)
“The Low End Theory,” A Tribe Called Quest, album (1991)
“Time Is On My Side,” Irma Thomas, single (1964)
“Trio,” Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, album (1987)
“We Are The World,” USA For Africa, single (1985)
“When the Levee Breaks,” Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie, single (1929)
“Wreck of the Old 97,” Vernon Dalhart, single (1924)
“Y.M.C.A.,” Village People, single (1978)

Baez Among the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Joan Baez is celebrating a special feat…

The 75-year-old Mexican American folk singer, songwriter, musician, and activist will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Baez, a first-time nominee, will be joined by Pearl Jam, Journey, Electric Light Orchestra, Tupac Shakur and Yes as the shrine’s 2017 inductees.

Baez, whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice, began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert all achieved gold record status and stayed on the Billboard and other record album charts for two years.

Her songs of acclaim include “Diamonds & Rust” and covers of Phil Ochs‘ “There but for Fortune” and The Band‘s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“. She is also known for “Farewell, Angelina“, “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word“, “Forever Young“,”Joe Hill“, “Sweet Sir Galahad” and “We Shall Overcome.”

Baez, who performed three songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.

“I never considered myself to be a rock and roll artist,” said Baez, who received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011, in a statement. “But as part of the folk music boom which contributed to and influenced the rock revolution of the 60’s, I am proud that some of the songs I sang made their way into the rock lexicon. I very much appreciate this honor and acknowledgement by the Hall of Fame.”

The 32nd annual Rock Hall induction ceremony will take place on April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. SiriusXM will broadcast the ceremony live and it will again be filmed for a later telecast on HBO.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in Cleveland will open a special exhibit on March 30 to honor the 2017 inductees.

Gardel’s “El día que me quieras” Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Gardel’s name will forever be etched into the annals of music history…

The late Argentine singer/songwriter’s Spanish-language single “El día que me quieras” has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The song – a tango with music by Gardel and lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera – was originally featured in the 1935 film of the same name. It became a heavily recorded tango standard, even by artists outside of the realm of tango.

Most recently, Mexican singer Luis Miguel recorded a cover of the song for his Grammy-winning album Segundo Romance, in 1994. This single peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1994.

In all, Grammy officials selected 27 recordings from legendary musicians to be added to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles including works from Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel.

The Recording Academy selects musical recordings for the hall of fame from songs and albums in all genres that are at least 25 years old. In addition, the academy chooses songs that show either “qualitative or historical significance.”

Four Latino Acts’ Works Added to Grammy Hall of Fame

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

So what do Freddy Fender, Santana, Sergio Mendes and Los Panchos have in common? Their works have been selected for the 2012 Grammy Hall of Fame.

The Recording Academy announced that Fender’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights (1975), Santana’s album “Santana” (1969), Los Panchos’ “Mexicantos” (1945) and Mendes’ “Herp Albert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66,” (1966) are among the works for
demonstrating “musical excellence.”

Selected works must be at least 25 years old and exhibit qualitative or historical significance, according to the Recording Academy.

“We are especially honored to welcome this year’s selection of some of the most influential recordings of the last century,” said The Recording Academy’s president Neil Portnow. “Marked by both cultural and historical significance, these works truly have influenced and inspired audiences for generations, and we are thrilled to induct them into our growing catalog of outstanding recordings.”

During Grammy Week in February, the works will be formally included in the academy’s collection, which dates back approximately 40 years.

The new additions bring the number of works recognized by the Recording Academy to 906.

Fender, who passed away in 2006, was born Baldemar Huerta, the son of a Mexican immigrant father and a Texas-born mother. Some of his best-known songs were “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and “Secret Love.”

Mendes is a Brazilian-born jazz musician.

Los Panchos was a trio that often performed ballads.

Santana, a group named after its leader, Carlos Santana, formed in 1966.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

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