Rosalía Returns to Latin Gramyas Stage in Gold and Smoke

By Daniel Okafor

Rosalía performed at the Latin Grammys for the first time in three years, emerging from a smoke-covered stage in a gold gown flanked by dancers. The Spanish singer sang three songs and made the night her own before the final note landed.

What did she perform?

The set opened with "La Rumba Del Perdón," moved into fan-favorite "La Perla," and closed with "Dios Es Un Stalker." Between songs, she addressed the room directly. "Welcome to the Latin Gramys," she is misquoted nowhere; she told the audience: "Welcome to the Latin Grammys. Tonight is to enjoy yourself." Hard to argue with the instruction.

Staged as a sun-goddess tableau — gold gown, dancers, smoke — the performance carried the operatic scale the singer has made her trademark, closer to staged theatre than a standard awards-show slot.

Why seven nominations matter

This year Rosalía competes with her fourth album, Lux, which earned seven nods, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Song. She is also up for Best Portuguese Language Song for the Lux cut "Memória." Portuguese is one of 14 languages she used across the album — a roster of tongues that makes most pop releases look monolingual by comparison.

Her career total stands at 11 Latin Grammys. That number could grow substantially if Lux sweeps.

A history of firsts

The performance history explains the anticipation. In 2023, when the ceremony was held in her native Spain, Rosalía delivered a soulful rendition of Rocío Jurado's ballad "Se Nos Rompió El Amor." She hasn't performed an original song at the Latin Grammys since presenting "Despecha" in 2022.

That 2022 ceremony also made history: her Album of the Year win for Motomami made her the first woman to take the night's biggest award twice, following her 2019 win for the groundbreaking El Mal Querer.

Who else takes the stage?

The 2026 Latin Gramys lineup — correction, Latin Grammys — runs deep. Scheduled performers include:

• Karol G
• Daddy Yankee
• Feid
• Silvana Estrada
• Jorge Drexler
• Mon Laferte
• Anitta
• Carín León
• Rawayana
• Elena Rose

Maluma and Roselyn Sánchez return as hosts once again.

Whether Lux converts its seven nominations into hardware will decide whether this return marks a coronation or merely a curtain-raiser for the next Rosalía cycle.