Luis Fonsi is earning a special recognition…
The 39-year-old Puerto Rican singer will be honored with the Spirit of Hope Award for his humanitarian work with St. Jude Children’s Hospital at the Billboard Latin Music Awards on April 27.
Fonsi will receive the accolade created in honor of the late Selena Quintanilla and given to artists for their philanthropic and humanitarian contributions beyond their musical work.
Fonsi began working closely with St. Jude and other programs fighting childhood cancer since the beginning of his career, but it wasn’t until 2008 that he became its Thanks and Giving campaign ambassador.
“I sang at fundraisers for St. Jude but realized nobody was the face of the Latin community for the hospital,” Fonsi tells Billboard. “I said, ‘I’d like to be that messenger.'”
The “Despacito” singer — who recently released a new remix of the song featuring Justin Bieber singing in Spanish — will also perform at the awards show. Other superstars set to perform include Ricardo Arjona, Nicky Jam, CNCO and J Balvin.
Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, from the Netflix series Ingobernable, and Puerto Rican actor and singer Carlos Ponce will host the awards ceremony.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will air live on Telemundo from The Watsco Center at the University of Miami, are the culmination of the Billboard Latin Music Conference, taking place April 24-27 at the Ritz Carlton Miami Beach.
