Alejandro Sanz was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards that aired on Sunday (Oct. 20) via Telemundo.

“Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to Billboard for the generosity of giving me this award, which means a lot to me,” Sanz, who was presented the award by Spanish pop artist Ana Mena, said during his acceptance speech. 

“I want to dedicate it of course to you, the comrades who make music. There was a time when making music in Spanish was not so easy… I’m not saying that it isn’t easy now, but I’m saying that you should enjoy it a lot, that you should feel proud of what has been achieved here through many generations, through many different genres. All genres have their moment, their place, they are all wonderful and they are all unique like us, like people. So I want to dedicate it to you too, especially to the people who make this possible, the people who listen to all of us. To the general public, to the people who listen to music,” he continued. 

The Spanish singer-songwriter also promoted his new single “Palmeras en el Jardín,” set to drop on Oct. 25 and part of his forthcoming album. “​​It’s one more reason to be happy. Music is what moves this heart that has been walking for so long. Long live music, long live life,” he noted. 

Earlier in the week, during his Icon Superstar Q&A at Billboard Latin Music Week, Sanz shared an exclusive sneak peak of his upcoming song. 

“It’s a story of love and of wanting to change everything in your life so that someone feels comfortable,” he told Billboard’s Leila Cobo. “You thought you were doing a lot by planting palm trees but in the end it wasn’t enough and it turns out that you keep all the palm trees and she is left with her loneliness. That’s what the song is about.” 

Past recipients of the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award include Armando Manzanero, Intocable, José José, Los Ángeles Azules, Los Temerarios, Maná, Marco Antonio Solís, Miguel Bosé and Ricardo Arjona, among others.