‘I’m not a quitter!’ Rubén Blades, the salsa supremo who acted with Jack Nicholson, inspired Bad Bunny – and served as Panama’s tourism minister

As he prepares to play the UK, the 25-Grammy-winning musician (and Harvard law graduate) looks back on his astonishing journey from the barrios of Panama City to global stardom “Well, I’ve been around,” says Rubén Blades, accurately. One of the most influential Latin musicians of the past half-century, the Panamanian singer-songwriter, 77, has been a defining force in salsa, collecting 25 Grammy awards – 13 Latin, 12 mainstream – and getting shout-outs from a new generation including Rosalía and Bad Bunny. Blades has moved between music, law, politics and film as if they were all part of the s

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