Latin pop

However, before the arrival of artists like Los del Río, Alejandro Sanz, Thalía, Luis Miguel, Selena, Paulina Rubio, Shakira, Carlos Vives, Ricky Martin, Gloria Trevi and Enrique Iglesias, Latin pop first reached a global audience through the work of bandleader Sergio Mendes in the mid-1960s,[5] although artists like Carmen Miranda popularized Latin samba music in Hollywood decades before this.

Tejano music, centered in Texas and the United States/Mexico border region, had begun to introduce synthesizers, slicker production, and a more urban sensibility to formerly root styles like norteño and conjunto.

Latin pop's first major crossover star was Gloria Estefan, who scored a succession of non-club-oriented dance-pop hits during the mid- to late 1980s, but eventually became known more as an adult contemporary diva with an affinity for sweeping ballads.

Most of its artists sang in Spanish for Latino audiences, although Latin pop's similarity to the mainstream helped several performers score crossover hits when they chose to record in English.

[1] The late '90s and early 2000s saw Latin artists such as Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez and ex-husband Marc Anthony, Paulina Rubio, Jade Esteban Estrada, Thalía, among others, achieve crossover mainstream success.