Alejandro Sanz back on top

Pop singer Alejandro Sanz's last record, El Tren de los Momentos, came out three years ago amid a slew of troubles for the Spanish heartthrob: his father died; he divorced his wife, Mexican model Jaydy Michel, mother of his daughter Manuela; a couple who worked at Sanz's Miami Beach home were accused of blackmailing him with information that he had a son in an affair; and Sanz had a nervous breakdown that forced a months-long hiatus in a concert tour.

BIOGRAPHIES

Sultry song inspired Benny Mor� bio

John Radanovich is obsessive about jazz, so much so that he moved from one great jazz town to another, just to immerse himself in it. Chicago. New York. New Orleans.
LATIN MUSIC

Cuban diva Omara Portuondo hits the Grammys

Omara Portuondo could be any Cuban grandmother, if that grandmother were a world-famous singer with tales to tell (and keep) about 60 years of music and celebrity and separation. Sequestered in a downtown Miami hotel, this legend of Cuban music, elegant and consummately professional at 79, wears a spangled black headscarf for photographs on a rare day of interviews. Her feet, however, are nestled into white athletic socks and flat, cork-soled sandals. When she sings -- and she sings several times -- the room seems to vibrate with the emotion in her voice.
HONDURAS | 2010 WORLD CUP

Soccer game unites a split Honduras

For one day, Hondurans ignored politics and got behind their soccer team's shot at the World Cup.
Nelly Furtado makes smart entry into Latin music market

Nelly Furtado's musical career has been filled with drastic changes. She started as a funky hip-hop / fusion phenomenon, soaring to success with her 2000 debut Whoa, Nelly and its Grammy-winning hit I am Like a Bird, then veered into a Brazilian-tinged world-beat detour. She returned to the mainstream in 2006 with the bestselling, sexy pop-hip-hop of Loose.
CUBA

Thousands mourn Almeida

Juan Almeida Bosque was one of just three surviving rebel leaders who still bore the title `Commander of the Revolution' before his death Friday at 82.
WASHINGTON

Peru emerges as fake dollars hub

Secret Service officials, working with Peruvian authorities, claimed thatthe millions of fake U.S. dollars recovered during the pastyear are a form ofeconomic terrorism.
CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY

Juanes: Cuba concert is not about politics

Colombian singer Juanes speaks out about his concert in Cuba -- and the controversy surrounding it.
CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY

Pop singer Juanes sparks furor in Cuban exile community with plans for Havana concert

Colombian pop singer Juanes is sparking a controversy in the Cuban exile community with plans for a concert in Havana.
POP MUSIC

Dark period fuels Fonsi's new success

Singer Luis Fonsi's hair is so black it gleams. He has thick brown eyebrows, deep brown eyes, and his skin is tanned a rich caramel. But for all his dark features, his eyes shine so vibrantly that the impression he gives is one of brightness.
Venezuelan regulators pull 34 radio concessions

Venezuelan regulators revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations on Friday, deepening a rift between President Hugo Chavez's government and the private media.
Ricardo Arjona offers more than songs in his concert

The Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona doesn't only make music in his concerts -- though only isn't a word you'd use for his songs -- but musical theater. His sold-out show at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday night was a wonderful exercise in playful concept and passionate narrative. And richly captivating music as well.
LATIN MUSIC

Father-son reunion a musical triumph

Both were born in Cuba on Oct. 9 -- Bebo Vald�s in 1918, and his son Chucho Vald�s in 1941. Both are extraordinary, renowned jazz pianists who have played major roles in developing their island's rich musical traditions. Chucho learned to play from his father, starting at age 3 when he began to pick out the music Bebo -- a bandleader and arranger who was one of the architects of Cuba's golden age of music in the 1940s and '50s -- played at home.
CONCERT REVIEW

Chirino maintains hero status in Miami

Singer Willy Chirino celebrated 40 years in music at the American Airlines Arena Saturday night in a concert that was as much a salute to Miami's exile community (and, by virtue of its many guests, the Cuban music community outside the island) and its passions as it was to his own career.
CONQUERING HIV

Global AIDS czar: Battles are being won in Latin America, Caribbean

Michael Sidibé, head of the global fight to control AIDS, sees big progress in getting life-saving medication to those with the disease.