Congressman Castro Celebrates the Addition of Three Iconic Latino Music Recordings to the National Recording Registry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and longtime advocate for Latino representation in media and entertainment, celebrates this morning’s announcement that the Library of Congress has selected three of his nominations for the National Recording Registry.
This year, the Library of Congress will induct Vicente Fernández’s “El Rey,” Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” and the “Hamilton” album to the growing small percentage of Latino musicians currently represented in the registry.
“Today’s announcement represents the Library of Congress’ growing recognition that music by Latino musicians has shaped the soundtrack of American life,” said Congressman Castro. “Vicente Fernández’s cover of José Alfredo Jiménez’s “El Rey” is one of the most recognizable Mexican songs in the world that has touched many beyond the Mexican American community. Freddy Fender’s 1975 hit, “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” landed him the No.1 spot on the pop and country charts and underscored a true commitment to creating art no matter the obstacles in his path. And finally, the release of Hamilton ten years ago changed Broadway forever, shattered sales records, and uplifted the profound role of immigrants in the building of our great nation. I am proud to see that these three iconic recordings from iconic artists are rightfully taking their place as legends in American music history.”
Background:
During this year’s nomination process, the office of Congressman Joaquin Castro received hundreds of suggestions from the community. Congressman Castro personally curated a list of 30 nominations—ranging from albums of the 90s to Hamilton’s mixtape.
Since it was established by Congress in 2000, the National Recording Registry has worked to preserve recordings with cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance to life in the United States. For the last nineteen years, the Library of Congress has selected 25 recordings for inclusion each year, with works by Latino musicians currently representing less than five percent of inducted titles.
Over the last three years, as part of his long-running efforts to improve the recognition of Latino contributions to American history and culture, Congressman Castro has solicited public suggestions for congressional nominations to the National Recording Registry. In his first year of nominations, Congressman Castro received hundreds of public suggestions and submitted 33 titles to the Library of Congress for consideration. The following year, the National Recording Registry inducted two of his nominations – Irene Cara’s “Flashdance…What a Feeling” (1983) and Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” (2004), the latter of which made history as the first reggaeton song to be preserved in the registry.
In 2023, Congressman Castro received more than 700 suggestions from members of the public and nominated titles by 35 performers – including Juan Gabriel and Héctor Lavoe – for inclusion in this year’s list of inductees.
Later this year, Congressman Castro will launch a new call for suggestions to shape his nominations for additions to the National Recording Registry that are expected in 2026.