Shakira, Celia Cruz, & Selena Top Billboard’s 50 Female Latin Pop Artists of All Time List

Latin music icons including the Queen of Latin Music Shakira, Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz, and Queen of Tejano music Selena Quintanilla are some of the most prominent voices in music for generations and known internationally for their talent. But they are not alone in their contributions to Latin music and topping the charts. Artists including Jenni Rivera, Gloria Estefan, and Ivy Queen have each reached major milestones and sold millions of records, blazing a trail for other Latinas in music to follow like Becky G, Kali Uchis, and Julieta Venegas. In honor of female Latin artists’ impact in the world of music, Billboard published their picks for the best 50 female Latin pop artists of all time featuring these Latinas and many more. The top 10 features a mix of contemporary Latina artists and icons who’ve each made their mark in the music industry.

Taking the 10th spot on the list is renowned Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa, hailed as one of the greatest voices of Latin America. She was awarded six Latin Grammy awards including a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and two posthumous Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2009 and 2011. Italian singer Laura Pausini, who rose to fame across Latin America with her Spanish-language music, took the 9th spot. Pausini has recorded several songs in Spanish, and in 2023, she became the first artist born outside of Latin America or Spain to receive the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year.

Boricua powerhouse Olga Tañón came in at the 8th spot. Having delved into a variety of genres including merengue, salsa, and Latin pop, Tañón has 20 albums that charted on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and holds the record as the female artist with the most Top 10 entries on Tropical Airplay. Mexican singer Ana Gabriel, who has placed 20 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Latin songs chart, holds the 7th spot.

Spanish singer Rocío Dúrcal, known for singing Mexican music as the Queen of Rancheras, stands at the 6th spot. Dúrcal posthumously received the Billboard Latin Music Award for Latin album of the year for Amor Eterno: Los Éxitos in 2007. Iconic Colombiana Karol G took the 5th spot. Her 2023 album Mañana Será Bonito became the first all-Spanish-language album by a female artist to top the Billboard 200.

With a career spanning six decades, Cuban legend Celia Cruz, known internationally as the Queen of Salsa, stood at No. 4 on the list. As the most influential female figure in the history of Afro-Cuban music, she generated 64 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. more than 20 years after her death in 2024. Coming in at No. 3 is Queen of Tejano music Selena Quintanilla. The late Mexican-American singer single-handedly revolutionized Tejano music, and her posthumous 1995 album Dreaming of You made history as the first bilingual album to debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.

Cuban-American trailblazer Gloria Estefan, whose career spans over four decades, holds the No. 2 spot. As one of the most well-known Latin crossover artists, Estefan has a total of 29 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and 30 tracks on Hot Latin Songs. In 2023, Estefan became the first Latina inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Legendary Colombiana Shakira holds the No. 1 spot on the list, as no other Latin American artist has broken more records than her. With a total of 15 Latin Grammys and four Grammys, Shakira has 29 songs on the Hot 100, over 50 entries on Hot Latin Songs, and seven No. 1 albums on Top Latin Albums. In 2023, Shakira was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year at the inaugural Latin Women in Music show.