The first award ceremony began in 1994 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida under the name Latin Music Awards to "represent a broad cross-section of Latino talent, covering every music genre" and then published on Billboard Magazine.

[2] The categories of the Latin music were: pop, tropical/salsa, regional Mexican, rap, rock and jazz.

[4][5] During the 1996 ceremony the Spirit of Hope Award was introduced as a special honor "in recognition of artists extraordinary philanthropic and humanitarian contributions beyond their musical work".

The 1999 awards show hosted by Daisy Fuentes and, was televised for the first time from Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

In 2022 the ceremony introduce the Legend Award gave to artists "whose contribution to music makes them a household name and who maintains a career that has withstood the test of time".