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Shakira to be honored at Billboard's first Latin Women in Music gala

Shakira will be named Woman of the Year at the first-ever Billboard Latin Women in Music gala. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 5 | Shakira will be named Woman of the Year at the first-ever Billboard Latin Women in Music gala. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

April 24 (UPI) -- Colombian singer Shakira will be honored at Billboard's inaugural Latin Women in Music gala.

Billboard said Monday that Shakira, 46, will be named Woman of the Year at the first-ever event in May.

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The Latin Women in Music gala will take place May 6 at Watsco Center in Miami and air May 7 at 9 p.m. EDT on Telemundo.

The new event "celebrates Latin female artists, executives and creatives who are proactively working for positive change, inclusion and gender parity in the music industry."

Ivy Queen and Jacqueline Bracamontes will host the gala, with Ana Gabriel, Emilia, Evaluna, Goyo and Thalia to also receive special awards.

Shakira has sold more than 95 million records worldwide and is the top-selling female Latin artist of all time.

The singer had the biggest Spanish-language debut of 2022 with her song "Monotonía" featuring Ozuna, and became the first woman to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song in Spanish with "Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions #53," released in January.

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"Shakira is the ultimate Woman in Music. Thanks to her, Latin women all over the world have been empowered to write and perform deeply personal music. She created a movement all on her own, and continues to be more relevant than ever today, with grace, a deep tradition of giving back, and enormous talent. She is the definition of a Woman in Music," Billboard chief content officer for Latin/Español Leila Cobo said in a statement.

The 2023 Billboard Women in Music gala took place in March and named SZA as Woman of the Year.

Shakira's career: music, awards and red carpets

Shakira poses for the media at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City on September 6, 2001. That same year, Shakira sold 13 million copies of her first English-language album "Laundry Service." Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo

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