{"id":727693,"date":"2026-06-10T15:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727693\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:57:10","slug":"ruben-blades-accepts-icon-award-at-2026-indie-power-players-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727693\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruben Blades Accepts Icon Award at 2026 Indie Power Players: Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRub\u00e9n Blades<\/a> accepted Billboard\u2019s Indie Icon award at the 2026 Indie Power Players<\/a> event on Tuesday (June 9) at The Cutting Room in New York City.<\/p>\n

\n\tBlades, whose career has spanned more than five decades, recalled arriving in New York in 1974 after leaving Panama following its military dictatorship and taking a job in the mailroom at Fania Records. \u201cNo one is successful without help and assistance,\u201d he said, crediting the bands, arrangers, musicians, DJs and audiences who supported him along the way.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe honor \u2014 presented to Blades by Billboard\u2018s co-chief content officer Leila Cobo \u2014 was a fitting one for the artist, whose career has embodied independence. After early releases on Alegre and Fania, and later a stint at Sony, Blades eventually took control of his output, launching Rub\u00e9n Blades Productions in 2004. Since then, he has continued to build one of Latin music\u2019s most influential catalogs on his own terms.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis Billboard history reflects that impact: Blades has placed 23 titles on Top Tropical Albums<\/a> \u2014 the fifth-most in the ranking\u2019s history \u2014 and charted songs on Hot Latin Songs<\/a> across three decades. His groundbreaking 1978 album with Willie Col\u00f3n,\u00a0Siembra, remains widely regarded as the top-selling salsa album of all time and a cornerstone of the genre.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the full video above and read Blades\u2019 full speech below:<\/p>\n

\n\tGood evening. Buenas noches. Small words, and they are. My arrival to New York City in 1974 was the product of a series of events totally unexpected. I studied to be a lawyer, but left my country after graduating as a consequence of its military dictatorship. My family had migrated to Florida a year before me and were experiencing great economic difficulties, so my decision to come to New York was a product of desperation, not careful planning. <\/p>\n

\n\tMy first job was as the only employee in the mailroom of Fania Records, the No. 1 salsa recording label in the world. One of my chores was to label and carry a hefty load of LPs and cassettes to the nearest post office while trying to avoid being run over by a bus, a taxi or a messenger\u2019s bicycle. To explain how from there I have ended up here tonight would take a while. So instead, my intention is to let everyone understand that my success also belongs to many other people\u2019s talents. No one is successful without help and assistance. There are many who are more deserving and talented than me who simply never got the opportunities. Without the bands, the arrangers, the musicians, the DJs and the audiences who have supported my efforts through more than five decades, I wouldn\u2019t be here tonight.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo thank you, Billboard. Thank you, Leila Cobo, for this distinction. My decision to use music as a way to present ideas, propose solutions, denounce evil, and document the lives of those who live and die in our cities has made me very happy. And as this ceremony apparently aims to express, It seems to have produced some results after all. <\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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