Karol G leads the nominations for the 2026 HEAT Latin Music Awards with 10 nods, ahead of Bad Bunny with nine and Carlos Rivera and Shakira with seven each.
The Colombian star is nominated for Best Female Artist, Best Urban Artist and Album of the Year for Tropicoqueta. She is also in contention for Best Viral Song with “Bby WOW”, among several other categories.
Bad Bunny is nominated for Best Male Artist, while Carlos Rivera and Shakira are also among the leading nominees for this year’s ceremony.
Karol G leads the 2026 nominations
Karol G’s 10 nominations span several of the HEAT Latin Music Awards’ major categories.
Her nominations include Best Female Artist, Best Urban Artist, Album of the Year for Tropicoqueta, Best Music Video for “Papasito”, Best Viral Song for “Bby WOW” and Fandom of the Year for her Bichoters fanbase.
“Bby WOW”, her collaboration with Judeline and rusowsky, is also nominated for Best Collaboration and Song of the Year. Her collaboration with Marco Antonio Solís, “Coleccionando Heridas”, is nominated in both of those categories as well.
Bad Bunny follows with nine nominations, while Carlos Rivera and Shakira each have seven.
The Best Male Artist category includes Bad Bunny, Feid, Carín León, Alejandro Fernández, Carlos Rivera, Maluma, J Balvin, Manuel Turizo, Wisin, Alejandro Sanz, Quevedo, Rels B, Danny Ocean and Ricardo Montaner.
Best Female Artist features Karol G alongside Shakira, Rosalía, Anitta, Tini, Emilia, Aitana, Kenia Os, Kany García, Greeicy, Mon Laferte, Cazzu, Yuridia, Belinda, Ana Mena, Gloria Trevi and Thalía.
HEAT Latin Music Awards head to Mexico
The HEAT Latin Music Awards, formerly known as Premios Heat, were founded in 2015 and were originally held in the Dominican Republic. The ceremony moved outside the country in recent years, including a 2025 edition in Medellín, Colombia.
The 2026 ceremony will take place in Mexico for the first time, at the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center in Jalisco.
Diana Montes, general director of the HEAT Latin Music Awards, said Jalisco is taking on a role beyond simply hosting the ceremony.
“Jalisco is not simply providing us with a venue; it is giving us a home and a place to come together once again around music.”
She added:
“We arrive with 10 years of Latin American history, and here we have found the hands that know how to bring it to life.”
The awards ceremony will form part of HEAT Week, which runs from 31 October to 5 November. The 2026 ceremony is scheduled for 5 November.
Who is hosting the 2026 HEAT Latin Music Awards?
The 2026 HEAT Latin Music Awards will feature Dominican television personality Caroline Aquino and Mexican personality Karime Pindter among its hosts.
The ceremony will take place at the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center and will mark the first HEAT Latin Music Awards staged in Mexico.
Colombian singer Beéle was the major winner at the 2025 ceremony in Medellín.
