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From career milestones to new releases to major announcements and those little important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Karol G gives TropiTour fans a new way to toast

Karol G is giving fans another way to step into the world of her Viajando Por El Mundo TropiTour. On Thursday (July 9), the Colombian superstar and 200 Copas by Casa Dragones unveiled the Chellita Sunrise as the official cocktail of the tour, designed as a sensory extension of its tropical, colorful energy. Inspired by the macaw — “a powerful symbol of Latin America’s cultural richness and the vibrant tropical bird featured in the tour’s logo,” says the press release — the drink will be featured in VIP lounges, select afterparties and Casa Dragones activations throughout the run.

The launch also comes with the Chellita Challenge, a social media contest inviting U.S.-based fans of legal drinking age to recreate the cocktail and dedicate a toast to someone special for a chance to win tickets to the tour. Rooted in the same spirit as Karol’s corridos hit “200 Copas,” the initiative extends the TropiTour universe beyond the stage and into something fans can quite literally raise a glass to.

‘Todos por Venezuela’ Mediathon Unites Artists for Earthquake Relief

A new media effort is rallying support for Venezuela. On Saturday (July 11), the “Todos por Venezuela” Mediathon will bring together artists, journalists, TV personalities, athletes, community leaders and volunteers for a 14-hour live broadcast from Mega TV’s studios in Miami, all aimed at raising humanitarian aid for communities affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela. The initiative, created by UNO Productions founder Luis Medina, will air on La Música TV on Roku from 10 a.m. to midnight ET, with Mega TV joining from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET, while SBS Radio and AIRE Radio Networks support the campaign throughout the day.

“What started as a simple idea quickly became a reality thanks to the generosity of incredible partners who believed in this mission,” Medina said in a statement. “I want to express my sincere gratitude to Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) for opening the doors of its national media platforms and becoming the exclusive broadcast and promotional partner of this humanitarian initiative.” The televised fundraiser will support All For Venezuela and Help For Venezuela Foundation (HEVENF), helping provide medical supplies, medicines, hospital equipment and other essential aid. The star-studded effort will feature appearances from Daniel Sarcos, Alicia Machado, Luis Enrique, José Luis Rodríguez “El Puma,” Karina, C4 Trío, Rodner Figueroa and more, while also launching “Hands & Hope – Sanaré,” an original UNO Productions song created as a tribute to the resilience of the Venezuelan people. 

Shakira Surpasses Taylor Swift on Spotify

Shakira continues to break global streaming barriers. According to a press release, the Colombian superstar has surpassed Taylor Swift to become the sixth-most-streamed artist in the world on Spotify, with more than 101.8 million monthly listeners. The milestone comes amid the worldwide success of “Dai Dai,” her FIFA World Cup anthem with Burna Boy, and just ahead of her scheduled performance at the FIFA World Cup Final halftime show on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey.

Fabiola Roudha becomes South Korea’s FOR:REST LIVE’s first Latin performer

Guatemalan soul-bolero singer, and Billboard‘s On The Radar Latin alum, Fabiola Roudha has become the first non-Asian artist invited to FOR:REST LIVE, the South Korean live-session platform that has previously featured only Korean and K-pop acts such as SUPER JUNIOR’s Ryeowook, 2AM’s Jo Kwon, Younha and Heize. The session premiered Wednesday (July 8) on FOR:REST LIVE and Roudha’s YouTube channels.

The recognition builds on a relationship Roudha has steadily developed in the country in recent years, including appearances at Seoul Music Week and the Taehwariver Jazz Festival in Ulsan. Her FOR:REST LIVE set also offers an exclusive preview of music from her upcoming project, further signaling her international expansion as she also gears up for her first Canadian tour. Watch the performance below.

Andy García to Receive Imagen Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award

Andy García is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 41st annual Imagen Awards on Aug. 21 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The celebrated Cuban actor, filmmaker, musician and producer is being honored for a four-decade career defined by iconic performances and a lasting commitment to authentic Latino representation in entertainment.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award from the Imagen Foundation, an organization that has championed Latino talent and authentic representation for more than forty years,” said García in a statement. “This award is especially meaningful because it celebrates not only my career, but also the many artists, mentors, and audiences who have been part of it and who have inspired me. Our shared Hispanic culture is home to many important and inspiring stories that reflect the richness of our identity and our contributions to the world.”

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Yungblud has canceled his planned set at this weekend’s Cowboys Music Festival in Calgary, Canada after his management decided to pull him from the show’s roster. In a statement posted by the fest, the singer’s team wrote, “Reluctantly, we have made the decision as a team to pull Yungblud from the Cowboys Music Festival in Calgary this Sunday (July 12). We are sorry for any disappointment this may cause, these are not decisions we take lightly.”

In an accompanying note from the singer, he told fans, “To all my family in Canada I apologise for not being there with you all this weekend — I’m currently in a place where I’m working on myself and taking time off at home in the U.K. I’m taking this extremely seriously and facing head on what’s going on for the good of the long term. I will never take any of this for granted and I will see you all soon. I love you all.”

This year’s Cowboys Music Festival will feature sets from Tucker Wetmore, Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Sean Paul, Steve Aoki, Jason DeRulo, Flo Rida, 5 Seconds of Summer, Dominic Fike, Sam Barber, John Summit, Macklemore, the Chainsmokers, Ella Langley and more.

Yungblud’s appearance on Sunday was slated to be the latest stop on his ongoing 2026 Idols world tour and, according to his management, no other gigs on the outing will be impacted. Yungblud is expected to be back on stage on July 28 for a show at Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park in Indianapolis.

On July 1, Yungblud shared with fans that he was struggling emotionally during his set at the first international edition of his curated BludFest festival in Czechia on June 27, where he appeared to get visibly overcome on stage and told the crowd that he’d been in pain and feeling “disconnected from everything” lately. “To be truthful. Recently, I’ve been really struggling,” Yungblud wrote in a social media post, adding that after leaving the stage feeling elated, he had “a breakdown” in the shower.

He said he’s been struggling to process major career moments at a time when “everything moves so quickly,” and also addressed the criticism that has chased him throughout his career, describing how the “amount of hate and disbelief” from online strangers and “bitter musicians” has impacted him. The post got support from a number of fellow artists, including Slayer/Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and SZA, among others.

The promoters of Cowboys Music Festival also posted a supportive note about the cancellation, writing, “Our thoughts are with Dom (Yungblud). We are sending him all our love and support, and wish him nothing but the very best during this time. We want him to know and feel the true love he has here in Canada.”

Jack White, the record label chief, business owner and scathing critic of the Trump administration, gets back to the business of rock ‘n’ roll with Frozen Charlotte, his seventh studio album.

Released through White’s Third Man Records, Frozen Charlotte dropped at the stroke of midnight on digital music platforms and houses the new single “Neighbors Blues,” the propulsive, previously-released “Dollar Bill,” and the tracks he performed on SNL earlier this year, “G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs” and “Derecho Demonico.” 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee unveiled the 13-track collection during the free, two-part online series Third Man Release Lab, in which his team peels back the layers on his label’s joyfully chaotic release process.

Frozen Charlotte was produced and mixed by the Detroit native, and took sonic shape at White’s Third Man Studio in Nashville with a roll call of familiar collaborators, including Patrick Keeler (drums), Dominic Davis (bass) and Bobby Emmett (keys).

White has assembled the band for North America tour dates in support of the album, which begin tonight, July 10, with a sold-out show at Washington, DC’s The Anthem and then continues through a two-night stand at Atlanta, GA’s Coca-Cola Roxy on Nov. 20-21. Highlights include two-nighters in a string of cities, from Brooklyn to Chicago, Charlotte, and Miami Beach, along with top-billing at Borderland Festival (Sept. 19) and Iron Blossom Music Festival (Sept. 20).

White and Co. will make an Atlantic crossing for more summer dates and festival spots in the United Kingdom and Europe, including two-night stands at London’s Eventim Apollo (Aug. 25-26) and Dublin’s 3Olympia (Sept. 1-2). Then, a visit to Asia for shows in Seoul, South Korea; Shanghai, China; and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The followup to White’s Grammy Award-nominated 2024 LP No Name, Frozen Charlotte is also available in physical formats, including CD, cassette, standard black vinyl, limited-edition “Zug Island Blue” vinyl (available via Third Man Records), limited-edition “Chrome” vinyl (available on tour), and limited-edition “Ice Blue” vinyl (available at independent record stores).

Stream Frozen Charlotte below.

Prior to SummerStage kicking off its 40th anniversary season, founder Joe Killian sat down with Billboard at Rumsey Playfield last month to talk about the best of what the New York City summer concert series has to offer. “There were some days here in July and August where it’s in the 90s, you’ve got 5,000 to 6,000 people sweating and drinking beer, and you smell both beer and sweat,” Killian said. “There’s nothing like that.”

While it wasn’t quite that balmy on Wednesday (July 8) night when Spoon and opening acts Bodega and Ratboys played SummerStage 2026, the sensory experience was much the way Killian described it: a gorgeous communal night for music and revelry inside the lush, skyscraper-lined environs of Central Park.

The occasional gray head and hipsters with children old enough to sing along to songs like “The Underdog” and “I Turn My Camera On” was a gentle reminder that SummerStage wasn’t the only entity celebrating an anniversary this year: it’s been 30 since the Austin band’s debut album, Telephono, and 25 years since their creative breakthrough, the low-key masterpiece Girls Can Tell.

“I love a show in New York in the summertime,” frontman Britt Daniel told the rapt crowd. After promising some “new old songs” the band hadn’t played in a while, Daniel added, “We learned some new new songs, too. We’ve been working on a record.”

Their last album, Lucifer on the Sofa, went top 40 on the Billboard 200 in 2022 and produced their third Adult Alternative Airplay Chart topper, “The Hardest Cut” (which was the third song in their SummerStage setlist). Considering the band struggled to get heard in the ‘90s and existed mostly as critics’ darling for the first half of the ‘00s (2005’s Gimme Fiction was their first LP to even hit the Billboard 200), Spoon’s curving road to success has been well earned. And that slow and steady rise to niche fame has made Spoon one hell of a live band – vibrating with nervous tension one moment (“Take a Walk”), crackling and commanding the next (“My Mathematical Mind”).

Daniel introduced “Out Go the Lights,” a reflective track from 2010’s Transference, as “one of my favorite Spoon songs we never got to play before this tour.” But the real surprise was the band welcoming “a dear friend of ours, straight from the Hamptons” to the Rumsey Playfield stage: Hamilton Leithauser. The Walkmen frontman joined them for not one but two songs: a loose version of Spoon’s “Do You” and a freewheeling take on a truly old-school rock classic, Larry Williams’ “Bony Maronie” from 1957. While they’re far from overly serious, Spoon has a decidedly art-rock bend – they can jam, but they’re not really known for shaking out sillies on stage, so it was a treat to watch them cut loose with Leithauser.

After Leithauser left the stage, Spoon trotted out another cover, one far more in keeping with their sonic world – David Bowie’s “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” the final track on his swan song Blackstar (which was recorded in Manhattan). Like Bowie, Spoon is proving to be a rock act that is capable of maturing without softening, aging without slowing down.

Prior to Spoon, opening act Ratboys delivered a delightfully easygoing set, dedicating “Go Outside” to Central Park’s famous pond turtles; and before them, Bodega offered up their own surprise guest – Britt Daniel, who joined them to sing Spoon’s “The Fitted Shirt.”

Mix in some gentle dancing and the smell of sweat and beer, and you have another lovely SummerStage night befitting a 40th anniversary.

T.I. has signed a publishing agreement with Reservoir, with the new deal spanning his entire publishing catalog including past and future works, the company announced today (July 9). T.I. released his latest album, Kill the King, on June 26.

“I’m very excited about building a strong partnership with Reservoir as we work together to diversify the business and expand the reach of my catalog,” T.I. said in a statement.

Included within the deal is T.I.’s 2006 album, King, which included the single “What You Know” that won the Grammy for best rap solo performance. King became T.I.’s first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and remained at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for four weeks.

His 2008 album, Paper Trail, became his second of three Billboard 200 No. 1s, and remained at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart for five weeks, and included featured collaborations with Jay-Z, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Lil Wayne. “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining there for six weeks, while “Dead and Gone” with Justin Timberlake hit No. 2. His single “Whatever You Like” also hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and held on at the top for seven weeks.

“T.I. has been dubbed the ‘King of the South’ for putting Atlanta’s rap scene on the map, which helped shape the trajectory of the genre of hip-hop for the past 20 plus years,” said Faith Newman, executive vp of A&R and catalog development at Reservoir, in a statement. “His crossover successes and enduring popularity have proven time and again how much his music resonates with fans. It’s an honor to partner with him on continuing to carve out the legacy of these cultural touchpoints he has created.”

T.I. described his latest venture, Kill the King, as his final album. The LP debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, No. 7 on the Top Rap Albums chart and at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. The album’s lead single, “Let Em Know,” peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 4 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.

“T.I. is one of those rare powerhouses whose music has real cultural significance and staying power,” Rell Lafargue, president and COO at Reservoir, said in a statement. “Our focus has always been to grow our roster with world-class music, and welcoming one of rap and hip-hop’s most influential artists and bodies of work to Reservoir reinforces that mission. This partnership with T.I. also doubles down on our long-standing commitment to the genre’s storied history and promising future.”

Angus & Julia Stone will return to the United States this September for a stretch of intimate tour dates in support of Karaoke Bar, the Australian sibling act’s seventh studio album.

The Stones will perform fan favorites and songs from Karaoke Bar on their jaunt, which includes a three-night stand at Los Angeles’ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (Sept. 14, 15 and 16), plus intimate headline performances at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Racket in New York City, and previously-announced festival spots in Canada.

Written and recorded across Greece, France and Australia, Karaoke Bar is due out Sept. 4 via Virgin Music. The new collection is said to be an exploration of music shaped by places and experiences, honed by geography and emotions, and houses the title track and recently-released “Monroe,” a warm and funky observation on love, fragility, and emotional reciprocity.

Angus & Julia Stone have amassed multi-platinum sales, No. 1s and numerous awards in their homeland and enjoyed an international breakthrough with the 2009 song “Big Jet Plane,” from their domestic chart-topping sophomore album Down The Way. The track went on to snag five ARIA Awards, including single of the year; won triple J’s annual Hottest 100 poll, and claimed the APRA Music Award for song of the year.

Rick Rubin produced the group’s third, self-titled studio album, from 2014, which went to No. 1 in Australia and cracked the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 54. At the time, the uber-producer described the artists as “truly unique musicians. They are authentic and pure people who do things from the heart. I’ve never worked with anyone like them before.”

Tickets for the U.S. tour go on sale Friday, July 10 at 10:00am local time at angusandjuliastone.com. Check out the dates below.

Angus & Julia Stone North American Tour Dates:

Sept. 11 — FONO Festival, Quebec City, QC

Sept. 14 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA

Sept. 15 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA

Sept. 16 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA

Sept. 19 — CityFolk Festival, Ottawa, ON

Sept. 22 — Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Sept. 23 — Racket, New York, NY

It’s the eighth of the month, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood ceremony took place on Wednesday afternoon (July 8), and all five members of the legendary Cleveland-bred rap crew were present.

Fat Joe, radio icon Big Boy and Ice-T spoke during the presentation on behalf of the group, while Katt Williams, Lil Eazy-E, Ray J and Ras Kass were also in attendance.

“They say I exaggerate,” Joe joked. “But what if I told you, I’ve been to 10 of these and I’ve never seen people out in the street like they are for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony right now.”

Joey Crack appreciated that Bone Thugs welcomed him into the fold and never belittled him while they were dominating the rap game and he was trying to find his footing. “I owe a great deal to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,” he said. “These guys went and they was the Michael Jacksons. They went and sold like 30 million records; I sold like two copies. They never acted funny with me.”

Ice-T stepped to the podium and took a moment to applaud the fact that all the members of Bone Thugs were present and healthy so they could get their flowers. The West Coast gangster rap pioneer commended Bone Thugs’ originality, ushering a new wave of blending rapping with singing.

“Our era of hip-hop, Fat Joe, you had to be original. You couldn’t sound like anybody else. When Bone Thugs hit the scene, they were like nothing we had ever heard,” Ice-T said. “When you see five cats that can all rap that good similarly, I’m like, ‘Where did these n—as come from? Cleveland.”

Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Layzie Bone, Wish Bone and Flesh-N-Bone each spoke at the ceremony, showing love to their families and thanking the fans for supporting them on this fruitful journey for over three decades.

“All I ever wanted to see was my homeboys successful, man,” Layzie Bone said. “All I ever wanted in life was for us to prosper… Thank y’all for coming out, thank y’all for supporting us. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, we are brothers.”

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony put Cleveland hip-hop on the map after signing to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records in the mid-90s before the N.W.A. co-founder’s passing.

Bone Thugs topped the Billboard 200 with 1995’s E. 1999 Eternal and 1997’s The Art of War. The Cleveland crew held the top slot on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks with their Eazy-E tribute anthem “Tha Crossroads” in 1996.

Watch the full Walk of Fame ceremony below.