The first album to appear at number-one on this chart was Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan on July 10, 1993.[4] This album spent 58 non-consecutive weeks at the top of this chart. Mexican singers Marco Antonio Solís holds the record for the most number-one albums by an artist overall with 12. Fellow Mexican performers Los Temerarios is the group with the most chart-toppers, eight. Jenni Rivera, Shakira, and Selena are the female artists with the most number-one albums with 7 each.[5][6] Selena's album Dreaming of You was, until 2022, the only album to peak at number one during three different calendar years (1995–97). YHLQMDLG, by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, also achieved the feat by charting at #1 during four consecutive calendar years (2020–2023).
The current number-one album on the chart is Debí Tirar Más Fotos by Bad Bunny.[7]
History
On July 10, 1993, Billboard premiered the revamped Latin 50 chart, which lists the best-selling Latin albums in the overall American music market.[8]
Before this, the first chart regarding Latin music albums in the magazine (Billboard Hot Latin LPs in Los Angeles) was published on the issue dated December 9, 1972. Y Volveré, by Chilean band Los Ángeles Negros, was the first album to appear at number-one.[9] Then, all Latin music information was featured on the first incarnation of the Top Latin Albums chart, which began on June 29, 1985, and divided Latin records on three different genre subcharts: Pop, Regional Mexican and Tropical, all of them now published in addition to the overall chart.[8] The Latin Pop Albums chart features music only from the pop genre, while the Regional Mexican Albums chart includes information from different genres like duranguense, norteño, banda and mariachi, and the Tropical Albums includes different genres particularly salsa, merengue, bachata, and cumbia. In May 2005, another chart, Latin Rhythm Albums, was introduced in response to growing sales of reggaeton records.[10]
In 2018, Billboard magazine compiled a ranking of the 20 best albums on the chart since its inception in 1993. The chart is based on the most number of weeks the albums spent on top of the chart. For albums with the same number of weeks at number one, they are ranked by the most total weeks on the chart.[13]
According to the RIAA certification, regular gold certification is awarded for shipping of 500,000 copies, platinum for one million units, and multi-platinum for two million unites, and following in increments of one million thereafter.[14] In addition, albums containing more than 50% Spanish language content may be awarded with Latin certification award, gold, (Disco de Oro) for shipments of 30,000 units, platinum (Disco de Platino) for 60,000 and multi-platinum (Multi-Platino) for 120,000 and following in increments of 60,000 thereafter (previously, Spanish-language albums were certified gold and platinum for 50,000 and 100,000 units shipped respectively before December 2013).[15] In the following table, the certification shown is either the standard or Latin certification depending on whichever one results in a higher value.
