‘King of Reggaeton’ Daddy Yankee announces retirement with final tour and album

Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee has officially announced his retirement, along with his farewell tour and final album Legendaddy.

The 46-year-old rapper – whose real name is Ramón Ayala – released a press statement on Sunday (20 March) announcing he is stepping back from making music.

“Today, I’m announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour,” he said.

“I will say goodbye celebrating these 32 years of experience with this new collector’s item, the album Legendaddy. I’m going to give you all the styles that have defined me, in one single album.”

Ayala rose to prominence with his 2004 hit “Gasolina”, which has been credited for introducing the world to reggaeton. The song’s album Barrio Fino landed at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, marking it the first reggaeton album to make that spot.

As of March 2022, he has had 86 entries on Hot Latin Songs and 76 entries on Latin Airplay, including his record-breaking song “Despacito” with Luis Fonsi.

In a video shared with fans (translated from Spanish by Rolling Stone), Ayala said: “This career has been a marathon. I finally see the end goal.”

He added: “People say I made this genre global, but it is you who gave me the keys to open the doors and make this genre the biggest in the world.”

Ayala’s five-month North American farewell tour will commence on 10 August in Portland, Oregon and end in Mexico on 2 December.

Legendaddy is scheduled for release on 24 March.