Congratulations to Caetano Veloso, an eight-time Latin Grammy winner and two-time Grammy winner, who was celebrated as the 2012 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Songs from Veloso's catalog were performed by an array of artists and friends of the honoree, including Alejandro Sanz (who performed "Força Estranha"), Juanes ("Sampa"), Juan Luis Guerra ("Lindeza"), Nelly Furtado ("O Leãozinho"), and Enrique Bunbury ("Os Argonautas"). A portion of the net proceeds from the gala will benefit Veloso's chosen charity, Fundación Viva Cazuza in Brazil—a not-for-profit HIV prevention and treatment organization for children and young people—as well as The Latin Recording Academy's outreach and education programs. The celebration preceded the XIII Annual Latin Grammy Awards, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas tonight, November 15, and broadcast live on the Univision Network starting at 8 PM ET.

"Caetano Veloso has become the preeminent ambassador of Brazilian music and culture," said Gabriel Abaroa, President and CEO of the Latin Recording Academy and a co-host of the event with singer Julieta Venegas. "It is difficult to find a man with such immense talent, passion and dedication to his creative projects—whether in music, writing or activism—and it is The Latin Recording Academy and its Board of Trustees' great pleasure to celebrate a man of limitless talent and commitment. By celebrating Caetano, we celebrate Brazil, and we look forward to honoring his amazing career and music."

A musician, producer, arranger, writer, painter, and political activist, Veloso is considered one of the most influential Brazilians since the '60s. He has nearly 40 recordings to his credit, including 14 on Nonesuch Records—the most recent of which is Live at Carnegie Hall, which documented a special collaborative concert with friend David Byrne and was released this past March. Absorbing musical and aesthetic ideas from sources as diverse as The Beatles, concrete poetry, the French Dadaists, and the Brazilian modernist poets of the 1920s, Veloso—together with Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, his sister Maria Bethania, and a number of other poets and intellectuals—founded a movement, Tropicália, that permanently altered the course of his country’s popular music.

For additional details and photos from last night's event and more information on tonight's Latin Grammy Awards, visit latingrammy.com.