The earliest popular Latin American music in the United States came with the rhumba in the early 1930s, followed by calypso in the mid-1940s, mambo in the late 1940s and early 1950s, chachachá and charanga in the mid-1950s, bolero in the late 1950s, and finally boogaloo in the mid-1960s.

Latin American music in the United States - Wikipedia

What are the three major influences of Latin American music?

These traditions reflect the distinctive mixtures of Native American, African, and European influences that have shifted throughout the region over time.Feb 27, 2024

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How has Latin American music impacted the US?

Latin American music has long influenced popular music in the United States. Within the industry, "Latin music" has influenced jazz, rhythm and blues, and country music, even giving rise to unique US styles of music, including salsa, New Mexico, Tejano, and Western. Fusion genres such as Chicano rock, Nuyorican rap, and Chicano rap have emerged from Latin communities within the United States.

The genre of Latin American music includes music from Spanish, Portuguese, and, sometimes, French-speaking countries and territories in Latin America.[1] While Latin American music has also been referred to as "Latin music," the American music industry defines Latin music as any release with lyrics mostly in Spanish, regardless of whether the artist or music originates from Latin America or not.

Chicano rock, also called chicano fusion, is rock music performed by Mexican American (Chicano) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specific Latin instruments or sounds. The subgenre is defined by the ethnicity of its performers, and as a result covers a wide range of approaches. 

There are three basic styles of Chicano rock

1) The earliest Chicano rock emerged as a distinctive style of rock and roll performed by Mexican Americans from East Los Angeles and Southern California, containing themes from their cultural experience. 

The 1958 hit song "Tequila!" was written and sung by the saxophone player Danny Flores (not to be confused with Danny David Flores, a former member of Renegade) and performed by The Champs. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the "Godfather of Latino Rock."

Chicano rock is its rhythm and blues influence and incorporation of brass instruments like the saxophone and trumpet, Farfisa or Hammond B3 organ, funky basslines, and its blending of Mexican vocal styling sung in English. 

2) The second style of 70s Chicano rock is more open to blues music, soul music, R&B, rock music, funk, Latin music, salsa music, and jazz. Santana, Malo, War, El Chicano, Sapo and other Chicano 'Latin Rock' groups follow this approach with their fusions of R&B, Jazz, and Caribbean sounds. 

Later Chicano musicians who draw from rockabilly and country include Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos. These musicians also sometimes draw from traditions of Norteño music or Tejano music. 

3) A third style is the 80s Latin rock, Latin R&B by Tierra, Little Joe, Little Willie G, Ralfi Pagan, Sheila E, Sugar Style, Sunny and the Sunliners and Rocky Padilla.

AARP Article

Latin Music in America:    https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/music/info-2019/latin-music-timeline.html

Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), was the first Mexican American musician to cross over into mainstream American rock and roll.

Richie, took an Afro-Cuban drum, and lyrics in Spanish (although he did not speak spanish) and a rock and roll rhythm to record "La Bamba".  Number one on the Billboard charts.  He was set to become the biggest Mexican American rock star in history.   A forefather of the Chicano rock movement! 

In the early 1960s, bands began using organs and propelled rock and roll songs such as "96 Tears" by the garage rock band The Question Mark and the Mysterians to number 1.

 One of the first to be called "Punk Rock"

The lead vocal was "?" (Question Mark, the stage name of Rudy Martínez) and the band included Frankie Rodriquez, Bobby Balderrama, Robert Martinez, and Frank Lugo.

Cannibal and the Headhunters,  a Mexican American band from East los Angeles, also became major stars for a brief time with their hit "Land of a Thousand Dances."  Still played to this day.  

The Champs had a huge hit with their song "Tequila" which was on the charts for nineteen weeks in 1958.  The saxophonist for the Champs, Chuck Rio was a latino musician from Texas with Afro-Cuban style, helping the song win a Grammy in 1958.  

Domingo Samudio (born February 28th, 1937 in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham is known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon velvet curtains. As the front man for the Pharaohs, he sang on several Top 40 hits in the mid-1960s, including the Billboard Hot 100 runners-up "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood". Tex Mex sound that made national hits.  

Our California Connection - Carlos Santana, born in a small Mexican town near Guadalajara, grew up in Tijuana.  After moving to San Fran cisco at fourteen, Santana formed his band to play rock with a strong Afro-Cuban beat.  In 1969, Santana played at woodstock and became a major star overnight with songs such as "Black Magic Woman" and Tito Puente's "oye Como Va."

Los Lobos is another Grammy winning band from California.  The group is a blending rock and roll, Tex-Mex, folk, rhythm and blues, and traditional Mexican boleros and corridos.  Los Lobos had a breakthrough in 1987 when they recorded songs for the soundtrack of the movie La Bamba.  Their version of "La Bamba" became a number one single.  Los Lobos worked as an opening act for Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.  

Songs by Los Lobos have been recorded by Elvis Costello, Waylon Jennings, Frankie Yankovic, and Robert Plant.

 In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2018, they were inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. They are also known for performing the theme song for Handy Manny. As of 2024, they have been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards and have won 4. 

Xavier Cugat]; 1 January 1900[1] – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City, he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria before and after World War II. He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur.  

Cugat was born Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1900 (although he would later claim to have been born in 1901). His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old. He studied classical violin and worked as a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theater to help pay for his education.  On 6 July 1915 he and his family arrived in New York City on the SS Havana. Cugat appeared in recitals with Enrico Caruso, playing violin solos.

In the 1920s, he led a band that played often at the Coconut Grove, a club in Los Angeles. Cugat's friend, Charlie Chaplin, visited the club to dance the tango, so Cugat added tangos to the band's performances. 

He worked for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. His caricatures were nationally syndicated. 

In 1931, Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf–Astoria Orchestra, shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years. One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm. 

His music career led to appearing in the films and Cugat owned and operated the Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat in West Hollywood. The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners' favorite songs upon request.[9] The restaurant began operations in the 1940s and closed in 1986. 

Cugat spent his last years in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, living in a suite at Hotel Ritz (Barcelona) passed 1990 

Jennifer Lynn Affleck; born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Often dubbed the "Queen of Dance", Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking barriers for Latino Americans in Hollywood and helping propel the Latin pop movement in music. She is also noted for her impact on popular culture through fashion, branding, and shifting mainstream beauty standards.

Lopez began her career as a dancer, making her television debut as a Fly Girl on the sketch comedy series In Living Color in 1991. She later rose to prominence as an actress, with leading roles in the films Selena (1997), Anaconda (1997) and Out of Sight (1998) establishing her as the highest-paid Latin actress. She successfully ventured into the music industry with her debut album On the 6 (1999). In 2001, she became the first woman to simultaneously have the number one album and film in the United States with her second album J.Lo and romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. She has since become known for starring in romantic comedies, including Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), and Monster-in-Law (2005). Lopez released two albums in 2002: J to tha L–O! The Remixes and This Is Me... Then, the former becoming the first remix album to top the US Billboard 200.

Lopez is a middle child; she has an older sister, Leslie, and a younger sister, Lynda. The three shared a bedroom. Lopez has described her upbringing as "strict". She was raised in a Roman Catholic family; she attended Mass every Sunday and received a Catholic education, attending Holy Family School and the all-girls Preston High School.

As of 2018, Lopez has sold more than 80 million records worldwide and her films have grossed a cumulative total of US$3.1 billion. She remains the only female entertainer to have a number one album and film simultaneously in the United States. With J.Lo (2001), Lopez became the first female solo recording artist under Epic Records to achieve a number one album in the United States since its inception in 1953. 

In 2010, Lopez was honored by the World Music Awards with the Legend Award for her contribution to the arts. In 2013, she was presented with the prestigious landmark 2,500th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her musical contributions, and Univision presented her with the World Icon Award in its Premios Juventud. In 2014, she became the first female recipient of the Billboard Icon Award. In 2017, she was awarded the Telemundo Star Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. In 2018, Lopez received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, making her the first Latin performer to receive the honor since its introduction in 1984. In 2022, she received the Generation Award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for her contributions to film and television, and the Icon Award at the iHeart Radio Music Awards. 

Without the influence of Latin musicians, many musical forms throughout the world might never have evolved.  As it stands, wherever there are congas, claves, guitars, and trumpets playing joyous dance beats, the sounds of the Mesoamericans from centuries past are still alive.  Whether the music is salsa, mambo, samba, corrido, or Tejano, the Latin rhythms will never fade.