Bad Bunny & ‘Despacito’ Are No. 1 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Spotlight for Chart’s 40th Anniversary

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart — dating to its start in the Oct. 4, 1986, issue as a weekly survey reflecting Spanish-language songs’ popularity in the United States — we’ve compiled freshly updated Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists and Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs retrospectives.

Across these lists, Bad Bunny stands as the new No. 1 name on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, remains the champion on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs.

Along the way, more than 400 songs, by nearly 200 artists, have taken turns atop the weekly Hot Latin Songs chart. The first No. 1? “Yo No Sé Qué Me Pasó,” by Juan Gabriel. Karol G’s “BbY WOW,” with Judeline and rusowsky, is the current leader.

Below, browse the top 10 artists and songs over the Hot Latin Songs chart’s history, with the full 100-song and 50-artist rundowns viewable in Billboard’s overall charts menu.

Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs and Hot Latin Songs Artists recaps are based on weekly performance on Hot Latin Songs from its inception on Oct. 4, 1986, through Sept. 26, 2026. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning proportionally less. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. Artists are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, of all their Hot Latin Songs chart entries.

• Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists: Top 10

  Here is the top 10 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists:

  Rank, Artist

  1. Bad Bunny
  2. Enrique Iglesias
  3. Luis Miguel
  4. Daddy Yankee
  5. Cristian Castro
  6. Chayanne
  7. Shakira
  8. J Balvin
  9. Marco Antonio Solís
  10. Romeo Santos

• Bad Bunny Is Best

  

  Bad Bunny’s top status on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists mirrors a career of milestones. With an unmatched 191 entries — dating to his first, “Tú No Vive Así,” with Mambo Kingz, DJ Luian and Arcangel, in 2016 — Benito has rewritten multiple records on the weekly chart, whose formula measures (as it has since 2012) songs’ streaming, radio airplay and sales.

  The superstar from Puerto Rico also boasts 17 No. 1s and a record 89 top 10s. At the center of his run is “DTMF,” which logged a record 72-week domination from January 2025 to this August and has spent all 91 of its weeks on the chart to date in the top five. (From his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, it keeps at No. 2 on the Oct. 10 tally.)

  At No. 2 on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists, Enrique Iglesias holds the record for the most weekly leading songs — 27 — earned between 1995 and 2016. Bad Bunny ranks second with 17.

  Among women artists with enduring legacies, Shakira is the leader, at No. 7 on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs Artists, followed by Ana Gabriel at No. 11. For women whose chart careers began in the 21st century, Karol G ranks highest, at No. 12. The late Selena is No. 19, and fourth among women. Rounding out the category’s top five, Gloria Estefan is at No. 21, with her presence on Hot Latin Songs spanning nearly the chart’s entire history. She remains the woman with the most No. 1s: 15.

• Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs: Top 10

  These are the top 10 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs:

  Rank, Title, Artist

  1. “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber
  2. “Propuesta Indecente,” Romeo Santos
  3. “DTMF,” Bad Bunny
  4. “DÁKITI,” Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez
  5. “A Puro Dolor,” Son by Four
  6. “Si Tu Supieras,” Alejandro Fernández
  7. “RITMO (Bad Boys for Life),” Black Eyed Peas X J Balvin
  8. “No Me Doy Por Vencido,” Luis Fonsi
  9. “El Perdón,” Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias
  10. “Me Porto Bonito,” Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone

• “Despacito” Dominates

  

  Belying its title, “Despacito” made its run to historic chart heights anything but “slowly” (its title’s translation to English). Released in January 2017 by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, the global hit continues as the top title on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs. It spent a then-record 56 weeks at No. 1 on the weekly list from that February — in its third frame on the ranking — to August 2018, among a 110-week stay overall.  

  With Bieber in the mix as of April 2017, “Despacito” became a crossover juggernaut, expanding Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s profiles and the pop star’s reach with Latin music audiences. It topped Latin Digital Song Sales for 69 weeks, Latin Streaming Songs for 59 weeks and Latin Airplay for 19 weeks. Further powered by a five-week reign on Pop Airplay, “Despacito” led the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-tying 16 weeks in May-September 2017.

  Romeo Santos’ “Propuesta Indecente” is the retrospective’s No. 2 song. After ruling Hot Latin Songs for four weeks in 2013-14, it went on to total a record 125-week run on the chart overall.

  Bad Bunny places two songs in the Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs top five. “DtMF” is at No. 3 and “DÁKITI,” with Jhay Cortez, No. 4. The latter is Bunny’s second-longest-leading hit (27 weeks, in 2020-21).

  At Nos. 5 and 6 are the top titles from the first decade of the 2000s and from the 1990s, respectively. Son by Four’s pop ballad “A Puro Dolor” notched 20 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs in 2000, while Alejandro Fernández’s “Si Tu Supieras” was No. 1 for six weeks in 1997.

  As on the artists recap, Shakira scores the top rank among women on Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs, where “La Tortura,” featuring Alejandro Sanz, is No. 12, thanks to its 25-week command in 2005 — the longest by a woman. Selena’s “No Me Queda Más” is at No. 25, after it led for seven weeks in 1994-95.