Thousands of fans packed New York City's Rockefeller Plaza Monday morning to see Latin music superstar Romeo Santos perform live on NBC's "Today."
Kicking off the #Viva"Today" series, Santos is a multi-platinum-selling performer who was ranked by Billboard as the Top Latin Music Artist of 2014. Santos is nominated and will perform Thursday at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in Miami Beach, Florida, which will air live on Telemundo.
Santos leads the Latin Music Awards pack with 21 nods in 16 categories (a record in the history of the awards) including Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Top Latin Album of the Year.
Often called the "King of Bachata" (a genre of music and dance style that originated in the Dominican Republic), 33-year-old Santos is a New York native who recently told NBC News he considers himself "a humble kid from the Bronx who's blessed."
Santos' "Propuesta Indecente" music video has attracted more than half a billion (yes, billion!) views on YouTube and the singer has performed two sold out shows at Yankee Stadium and recently added new U.S. arena dates to his Vol2 World Tour.
"My husband is forgiving me for all the kisses I'm sending Romeo," a laughing Patti Velazquez said to NBC News Monday. Velazquez and her husband woke at 3 a.m. and left their Yonkers, N.Y. home to join the crowds in midtown Manhattan in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Santos performing.
Already a global music sensation, Santos is also enjoying big-screen success thanks to his acting debut in the box-office blockbuster "Furious 7."
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The Billboard Latin Music Awards will air live from 8 p.m. ET on Telemundo.
