Daddy Yankee shocked fans over the weekend by announcing plans to retire from music nearly three decades after launching his career and putting reggaeton on the world map.
The Puerto Rican rapper and singer, born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, will culminate his musical run with the release of a final album and farewell tour.
"This career has been a marathon, I finally see a finish line," the 45-year-old said in a video statement published to his website. "This genre, people tell me that I made it worldwide, but it was you who gave me the key to open the doors to make this genre the biggest in the world."
He continued, "Today, I’m announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour. I will say goodbye celebrating these 32 years of experience with this new collector's item, the album 'Legendaddy.'"
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Daddy Yankee released his first album, "No Mercy," in 1995 and rose to international stardom a few years later with the iconic "Barrio Fino," which included his first cross-over hit "Gasolina" and the popular single "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó."
His featured performance in 2017's "Despacito," a song he co-wrote with Luis Fonsi, was the biggest song of year on the global charts. That same year, Daddy Yankee ousted Ed Sheeran from the No. 1 spot on Spotify to become the first Latino artist to lead the music platform.
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"Legendaddy" will mark Daddy Yankee's first studio album since 2012's "Prestige."
The album will be followed by La Última Vuelta (The Last Lap), a 41-date world tour. The U.S. leg of the tour kicks off Aug. 10 in Portland, Oregon, and ends in New York on Sept. 20. The concerts in Latin America will begin on Sept. 29 in Santiago de Chile and will end on Dec. 2 in Mexico City.
