Jorge Luis Chacín, one of the most recognized and sought-after contemporary Venezuelan songwriters in Latin music, returns this week with De Amor, Sueños y Cantares, his first studio album in four years. The project features 10 new songs that encapsulate the best of his essence.

The former member of the group Guaco infuses his unmistakable tropical flavor into tracks like “Dale Más,” “Todo Pasa” with Luis Enrique and the focus track “Una Canción,” effortlessly moving between salsa, merengue and ballads with a sound that blends the traditional with the contemporary.

“It’s like a little journey through all my decades, through everything I’ve learned even before Guaco,” Chacín tells Billboard Español.

Released independently on Thursday (April 30), De Amor, Sueños y Cantares (which means “Of Love, Dreams and Songs”) is built on three narrative pillars: love, dreams, and singing as a way of life. The title, Chacín explains, summarizes the entire concept of the album.

“De Amor, because I’ve always been an eternal lover of life, of things, of love itself. I wanted to talk about the countless ways to love and feel: loves that ended, those left unfinished, those that blossomed, the ones that last forever and the ones that don’t,” the musician explains. “Sueños, because I’m an eternal dreamer and I believe, as they say, that our truest life happens when we daydream. To dream, you need a little faith amidst the chaos we live in, in this congested world.”

“And Cantares,” he continues, “because, as it says in the press notes we sent out, [it elevates music to a poetic and spiritual space, inspired by the idea of singing as a way of life]. I compare singing to, for example, when I visit friends who aren’t musicians but love karaoke. I see that when people sing, they disconnect. It doesn’t matter if they can’t sing well; it’s therapeutic. I believe singing is the most beautiful way to live.”

In addition to Luis Enrique, the album includes two special collaborations: “Tan Bonita y Sin Novio” with Venezuelan poet and singer-songwriter Lalo Yaha, inspired by a poem of the same name written by Yaha; and “Déjà Vu” with Chacín’s youngest daughter, Natacha Chacín, who is 21 years old.

“It’s not just because she’s my daughter — don’t let her hear this — but she’s amazing. I think she’s going to surpass me, God willing, because she’s very talented,” says the proud dad, who also mentions a double celebration as the release coincides with the 29th birthday of his eldest daughter.

Members of Guaco contributed to “Todo Pasa,” while two luminaries from the Dominican Republic — Janina Rosado, pianist and musical director for Juan Luis Guerra y 440, and her husband, renowned percussionist Juan De La Cruz “Chocolate” — collaborated on the merengue track “Dale Más,” the album’s first single, released in February.

Chacín produced De Amor, Sueños y Cantares alongside Pablo Rodríguez, a 27-year-old musician whom he considers “like a son” and who has been working with him since the age of 14. “It’s great because he’s an excellent musician. He sits with me, and we understand each other musically like a total pro, but he also understands today’s world and the sound of urban music. So, with him, I produced these songs to have that classic sound that is my essence but also fresh to the ear,” says the veteran artist.

Born in Maracaibo and now based in Florida, Chacín is one of the most relevant Latin music songwriters today. His recent works have been performed by artists like Camilo, Elena Rose and Los Ángeles Azules (“Carteras Chinas”); Ricardo Montaner (“El Último Regreso”); and Fonseca and Grupo Niche (“Con Dinero y Sin Dinero,” which was nominated for the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards in the record of the year and best tropical song categories). A recipient of BMI Awards, he has also written or co-written songs for Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Carlos Vives, Becky G, Prince Royce, Thalia and more.

When asked how he decides which songs to keep for himself and which to give away, his answer is simple: “I learned to be a cheerful giver because I love hearing my songs performed by great artists,” he says. “I really enjoy it; I’ve never been selfish about it. What I do is, when I write for myself, I’m a little freer.”

Listen to De Amor, Sueños y Cantares below:

Zayn has announced major changes to his upcoming Konnakol Tour.

The former One Direction announced the cancellation of 21 previously scheduled shows, including the trek’s entire U.S. leg, in an Instagram Story on Friday (May 1).

“I’ve had to take another look at my schedule for the months ahead and have to reduce the number of shows on the Konnakol Tour,” he wrote. “I want to make sure I still get out and see as many of you as I possibly can. I’m really looking forward to playing these shows for you, and I hope to see the rest of you around the world very soon.”

The “Pillowtalk” singer was hospitalized on the day he released Konnokal (April 17). He posted a photo of himself lying down in a hospital gown, hooked up to monitors and an IV, noting that he was “unexpectedly recovering” from an unspecified ailment. He also gave specific shout-outs to “all the incredible hospital staff of [doctors], nurses, cardiologists, management, admin and everyone who had helped along the way and continue to.”

He repeated some of those sentiments in his Instagram Story Friday. “Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and, more importantly, your love, prayers and well wishes for my health. I’ve felt it, and it’s meant the world,” he shared. “I’ve been at home recovering and I’m doing well and will be better and stronger than ever before.”

Zayn initially announced a 31-date Konnakol Tour on Feb. 5. Now, the entire U.S. leg of the tour and the first two U.K. shows have been canceled, with one rescheduled for May 24 at AO Arena in Manchester. His official website states that “all current tickets will remain valid for the new Manchester date”; refunds will be issued for the non-rescheduled shows, either via Ticketmaster or other point of purchase.

Konnakol debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, marking the third-highest-charting LP of his career.

Check out the remaining slate of dates for Zayn’s 2026 KONNAKOL tour below.

Ella Langley, Zach Top, Carter Faith and The Red Clay Strays are among 11 artists who have been added to the performance line-up for the 61st annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which are set to stream live on Sunday, May 17 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Other newly announced artists are Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown and Thomas Rhett, along with 2026 ACM new artists of the year recipients Tucker Wetmore and Avery Anna.

They are set to join previously announced performers Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert.

Langley has seven ACM nominations this year, including female artist of the year and single and song of the year for her crossover smash “Choosin’ Texas.” Langley won single of the year on last year’s show for “you look like you love me,” her sexy collab with Riley Green. If voters choose “Choosin’ Texas,” she’ll become just the fifth performer to win back-to-back ACM Awards for single of the year.

Top is up for male artist of the year for the first time. He was the new male artist of the year winner last year. (Langley won new female artist of the year on last year’s show).

Faith is up for album of the year for Cherry Valley. This marks the first time that an artist was nominated in that category with their first studio album since Chris Stapleton was nominated, and went on to win, 10 years ago with Traveller. This will be Faith’s first ACM Awards performance, and also the first for The Red Clay Strays, who won new group of the year on last year’s show. (That last-named category was shelved this year because there weren’t enough eligible contestants.)

The planned performances by Wetmore and Anna continue an ACM tradition where the winners of the new artist awards also get an invitation to perform on the telecast. Wetmore won the award on his second try (he lost to Top last year). Anna won this year on her first nomination in the category. Anna was presented with her trophy by frequent collaborator Sam Barberon Sunday (April 26) following her performance at the Lone Star Smokeout festival in Arlington, Texas. Wetmore was surprised with the news of his award at a concert in London on Thursday (April 30). Thomas Rhett interrupted Wetmore’s show with a video message prior to Wetmore’s mother, Sia, presenting him the award onstage.

Shelton is a five-time ACM Award winner and three-time ACM Awards host. He co-hosted with Luke Bryan from 2013-15.  

Hosted by Shania Twain, and returning to a Sunday night timeslot, the 61st ACM Awards will stream live globally on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT. Fans will also be able to watch the broadcast on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, as well as in the Amazon Music app.

Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show. It made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video.

Raj Kapoor and Patrick Menton are executive producers of the 61st annual ACM Awards, with Kapoor also serving as showrunner. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.

Tickets for the 61st ACM Awards and ACM Awards week events are available for purchase on AXS.com.

Leading up to the big night, the Academy of Country Music will take over Las Vegas with previously announced ACM Awards week events including the Whiskey Jam Welcome Party at Ole Red Las Vegas on Thursday, May 14 with Avery Anna, Caroline Jones, Jenna Paulette and The Band Perry; ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green: Riley Green & Friends at Topgolf Las Vegas on Friday, May 15 with Lauren Alaina, Randy Houser and Rodney Atkins, alongside headliner Riley Green; and ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash at Mandalay Bay Beach on Saturday, May 16, headlined by Keith Urban, with more performances by Ashley Cooke, Braxton Keith, Dasha, Flatland Cavalry, Tucker Wetmore, and more.

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.

When Izzy Escobar was just four years old, she started playing classical violin and studying the Suzuki Method of learning music. “My mom was definitely a proponent of learning an instrument,” she says. “On the other hand, my dad is from Cuba and was a DJ. I would sit with him at the dining room table and we would go over his setlists for the night…Top 40 hits, Cuban music, jazz.”

Escobar believes that upbringing ultimately inspired her own sound, a blend of classical and modern elements that result in her blues-inspired pop. She counts Celine Dion and Whitney Houston among her favorites (“I love powerhouse vocalists”) and says pursuing a career in music always felt natural: “Music immediately gave me this grounding sense of belonging… so I ran with that and never looked back.”

Yet, growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, Escobar admits that signing a record deal felt a bit “like a lottery system” — especially given her lack of industry connections. She decided to study theater at The University of California, Los Angeles to help network and immerse herself into the music business, working through school at Angeles Academy of Music and earning a full-time role after graduation. 

At the same time, she was self-funding her music and taking advice from friends who had landed label jobs. “I was posting three times a day and it was so cringey,” she recalls. “Nothing was picking up, and I got really down on myself.” Her last straw was when a student didn’t show up for their music lesson: “I literally had a breakdown.” She took to the piano, where she often improvises her songwriting, and decided to record and post the emotional release. “I woke up the next day and had gotten 13 million views on that video,” she recalls. “My whole inbox was about what I had been trying to get people to hear for so long.” (She later signed to independent label, publisher and management firm Artist House.)

Fast forward to this April, when things crystallized for Escobar with two major back-to-back synchs: She contributed an original song both to the final season of acclaimed TV comedy Hacks and to the highly anticipated film sequel Devil Wears Prada 2. 

For Hacks, she recalls being connected with Diane Warren to work on “something…but I didn’t fully know what yet.” Escobar had just a few hours to cut her vocals for what became the sassy and sultry kiss-off, “Hate to Be the One,” before catching a flight out of L.A. For Devil, music supervisor Julia Michels personally requested that Escobar write a song for the sequel after hearing her track “Sunny in London” (off her 2025 EP of the same name), saying it was similar to “the sonic landscape” for the film. 

After her original submission didn’t ultimately fit the scene, she wrote a new song, “Evergreen Avenue,” in a day — and secured her place on the soundtrack. After watching the film at its New York premiere, Escobar was assured the song she landed on was “the perfect choice… it’s this beautiful moment of love and connection and it’s a New York City love song, is how I like to call it.”

Now, as she finishes her upcoming album, she’s dreaming of more opportunities in film and TV — whether it’s writing music or acting herself. As her latest experiences have taught her, “you don’t have to choose one path.”

Below, Escobar reveals more on how her Hacks and Devil synchs came to be.

For Hacks, “Hate to Be the One” was written for the show with Diane Warren. How did you get involved?

I had met Diane a few months prior. Her Realsongs Studio was right down the street from where I lived in L.A. when I was going through all this stuff, and I would walk past it literally every day to get a coffee. I would look up at it and I would just [be like], “I really hope one day I can work with her.” I have always admired her. 

She and I got put into contact. I went to her studio. And she has this insane ability where she sits you down and she can just understand which one of her songs you’ll resonate with. I had a concert that night at Hotel Cafe and I was leaving the next day at 3:00 PM. So after my concert, I went home and I remember holding the lyrics of “Hate to Be the One” and I fell asleep with my AirPods in. I woke up the next morning, went to the studio and cut it. 

It wasn’t until later on that we got a call from her and the director and the team of Hacks saying, “This is actually the song for the final scene [in an episode this season].” I was freaking out, because I was just excited to sing a Diane Warren song. And then to hear that it’s a part of this cultural moment – and Hacks is just comedic gold – it was so exciting for me. 

Did you and Diane discuss continuing the relationship, or did anything else come out of these sessions? 

Diane and I text every day now. Which is such a crazy thing to say. She is a genius. 

For The Devil Wears Prada 2, was your song also written specifically for the film or was it something you had already had? 

This is such a crazy story that I am still trying to wrap my head around. I was out on a walk in New York, by the park. It was dusk, and all of a sudden I get a call from my manager and she’s like, “I have the craziest news for you.” She told me that the music supervisor, Julia Michels, heard my song “Sunny in London” and said it’s like the sonic landscape of Devil Wears Prada 2 and wants me to write a song for the movie. I thought I was being pranked… It ended up being real. 

All they told me was that Julia liked “Sunny in London,” but they couldn’t use it because it was a preexisting track — and it was about London. So they wanted me to write something new. I didn’t have any direction. I went ahead and wrote this song and sonically made the landscape similar to “Sunny in London,” big string beds. I did a whole orchestration, beautiful intro with cellos, violas, violins, all of that. And they were like, “We really love the track.” 

A month later, it’s maybe 48 hours before they have to lock picture — and I get a phone call saying, “Hey, we put the song in the scene again and it’s not working.” I’m in L.A., I’m not with my team in New York where I produce. At that moment I was like, “Give me 24 hours.” I had written this song in my notes with a friend of mine, Mira, and I had it in mind because it’s a New York City love song. And I originally came to New York because I moved for a guy – I also got a record deal. But after the breakup, I met my current boyfriend who’s the love of my life and I always tell him, “you make New York feel like a brand new city.” Because in my experience, when you meet someone new, everything changes around you. And that was the line that definitely hooked me into writing this whole song, which is, “I walk these streets like a tattoo in my mind. I’ve traced the corners about a hundred times, but sidewalks feel a little different when you’re with me. You make New York feel like a brand new city.” 

I got in an Uber and went to The Village recording studios in L.A., hopped on Zoom with Gregg Wattenberg, who produced the track, and we cut the vocals over Zoom. Sent it back to New York, and I got the call from Julia and [director] David Frankel being like, “This is exactly what we needed.” 

Prior to the premiere, had you seen the scene your music is in?

No. I had no idea. I think Devil Wears Prada has a lot of themes of love, whether it be friendships or relationships, or loving yourself. So I just went in with that.

[At the premiere] Sienna [Spiro] was seated with me. And when I tell you… they bring out Lady Gaga and I freak out. I literally started to cry. And then the 20th Century Fox intro starts. I’m in my seat and my heart is beating out of my chest. 

When you think of major TV or film synch moments, is there an example you’ve seen of how it has changed an artist’s career? 

The one that comes to mind, ironically, for me is KT [Tunstall’s], “Suddenly I See” from Devil Wears Prada one. Like that whole first soundtrack of Devil Wears Prada… I feel like it actually put so many artists on the map. 

What kind of outcoming do you hope these synchs have on your career?

One of the reasons I love Lady Gaga is because of the trajectory she’s had with her career. I myself act and want to be in film and TV, not only as a songwriter. And I have dreams and ambitions to write for Broadway. All of this is just showing me the dreams you have in your head can produce a huge effect.

Under the concept of different cities and one shared frequency, Clave Especial released its AfterAfter EP (Street Mob Records) on Thursday (April 30). The five-track project features collaborations with artists from various styles of the new generation of regional Mexican music.

Chuyín, Chino Pacas, Los Gemelos de Sinaloa and Fuerza Regida are the guests of the group hailing from Salinas, Calif. Clave Especial emerged as a revelation in the genre in 2025 with debut album Mija No Te Asustes, which garnered 3 billion global streams — according to the record label — and led the band to be finalists in four categories at the Billboard Latin Music Awards.

The group was discovered by Jesús Ortiz Paz, the leader of Fuerza Regida, and has opened for the regional Mexican band at iconic venues such as the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City, performing in front of thousands of fans and solidifying Clave Especial position as one of the most influential forces in the new wave of regional Mexican music.

AfterAfter arrives as Clave Especial continues to work on its next studio album, carefully crafting every detail to take on the challenge of surpassing its previous success. Below are our three favorite tracks from this production. Listen to the full EP on Spotify.

“Ferrari” feat. Fuerza Regida, Los Gemelos de Sinaloa

A fusion of their respective styles packed with energy, driven by the rhythm of the tuba, charcheta, guitars and accordion — key instruments used by the new generation of Mexican music. Sinaloa’s traditional sounds blend with California’s modern influences on this track, which tells a story of their achievements, including a Ferrari earned through hard work, with a touch of nostalgia for their family.

“Tranki Tranki” feat. Chino Pacas

The voices of Clave Especial’s Alejandro Ahumada and Chino Pacas are accompanied predominantly by guitars. Although their styles are completely different, they converge on the same message: wooing someone with small gestures, while making it clear that it’s only for one night — a casual relationship, nothing more.

“Ea Ea Ea“

Trombones, tubas and charchetas come together in a rhythmic cadence, complemented by the catchy title of the song. It tells the story of a night of drinking during which the pursuit of a romantic connection isn’t as easy as expected. The chorus, “Ea Ea Ea,” is instantly memorable and easy to sing along to, while the sierreño-style guitars take center stage at key moments.