GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty ImagesLa vida has provided many good raticos for Juanes.
The Colombian rocker took home a leading 5 trophies Thursday at the 2008 Latin Grammy Awards, including Album, Song and Record of the Year, to bring his all-time win total to 17 and shatter the previous record of 14 held by Alejandro Sanz.
In addition to top album, Juanes' La Vida...Es Un Ratico (Life Is a Moment) was also named best male pop vocal album, while wins for best song, record and short-form music video came for the tune "Me Enamora."
"This is incredible. A million thanks, truly," the artist said in thanks. "I have to thank my father, who is in heaven, God, my children. Since I was very young, my family taught me to listen to Latin-American music...They have all been an influence."
The influences transcended borders tonight in Houston, where the Latin Grammys (in 49 categories!) were handed out for the first time.
Among the crowd-pleasing performances were Juanes' duet with John Legend on "If You're Out There," and Carlos Santana and Jose Feliciano's jam with Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Gloria Estefan on "Mi Tierra" and "Oye Mi Canto."
Estefan also notched wins for best traditional tropical album and tropical song for 90 Millas and "Píntame De Colores," respectively.
Another big winner Thursday was Mexican hitmaker Café Tacuba, which came into the evening with a leading six nominations and walked out with two awards: top rock song for "Esta Vez" and alternative song of the year for "Volver a Comenzar."
Find the full list of winners on the Latin Grammys' website.