Universal Music Executive Jesús López Honored by King & Queen of Spain

Jesús López, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula, has received a special honor from the King and Queen of Spain.

On Wednesday (April 3), the music executive received the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts — an award that recognizes individuals and entities who have “excelled” in the field of artistic and cultural creation and have “rendered outstanding services in the promotion, development and dissemination of art and culture and in the conservation of artistic heritage,” according to a statement from Universal Music Latino.

The ceremony, where 32 distinctions were awarded, took place in Cádiz, a port city in the Andalucia region of southwestern Spain, with King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia in attendance. With this honor, the Spanish executive, who was born in the city of Ferrol, becomes the first music industry executive to receive the recognition.

“Becoming the first Spanish record executive to receive this recognition has a double meaning for me, on the one hand the personal and family pride and gratitude and on the other hand that the work of so many record executives is rewarded by the Spanish cultural world,” López said in a statement. “I thank all the artists, composers, producers and colleagues in the different labels I have worked with and continue to work with for their support and care, without them this recognition would never have been a reality.”

Over the years, López has been behind success stories including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee‘s global smash hit “Despacito,” which became the first song primarily in Spanish to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Los del Río‘s “Macarena” in 1996. He was also a player in Karol G‘s history-making Mañana Será Bonito, which became the first Spanish-language album by a female artist to lead the Billboard 200.

López joins past gold medal recipients such as Spanish singer-songwriter Víctor Manuel, writer Rosa Montero, musician Santiago Auserón, actor Javier Cámara and painter Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau, among others.