Today, I'm announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour,' Daddy Yankee (born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez), 45, shared in a statement obtained by Billboard.
'I will say goodbye celebrating these 32 years of experience with this new collector's item, the album Legendaddy.'
Daddy Yankee has the distinction of being the artist who coined the word reggaeton. He came out with it in 1994 to describe the new music genre that was emerging from Puerto Rico that synthesized American hip-hop, Latin Caribbean music, and Jamaican reggae rhythms with Spanish rapping and singing.
He first made waves in the music industry with his debut studio album No Mercy (1995), which he made alongside reggaeton pioneer DJ Playero.
It was his song Latigazo, off his second record El Cangri.com (2003), that began to receive mainstream success in Spanish-language radio stations in Miami and New York.
The San Juan native would go on to see global success with his song Gasolina off his third release, Barrio Fino (2004), which would be followed up by El Cartel: The Big Boss (2007), Mundial (2010), and Prestige (2012).
He would also score a hit with the song Despacito with Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber.
While making the stunning announcement in the video, Daddy promised that the farewell tour will be his best-ever.
'This career has been a marathon,' he said in Spanish. 'I finally see the end goal. Now I'm going to enjoy with all of you in what you've given me.'
Among the accolades he's accumulated over the years includes: the Latin Grammys, Billboard Music Awards and Billboard Latin Music Awards, Latin American Music Awards, and an MTV Video Music Award. Plus, CNN named him the Most Influential Hispanic Artist of 2009, and Time Magazine listed him among the 100 Most Influential in the World in May 2006.
The La Ultima Vuelta World Tour kicks off in Portland, Oregon on August 10, and winds through parts of the U.S. and Canada, before heading to Central and South America. It will end with three shows in Mexico, with the final being in Mexico City on December 2.
With sales of more than 30 million records in his career, Daddy Yankee is considered among the best-selling Latin music artists.
