Ilegales (also called Los Ilegales, "The Illegals") is a Grammy-nominatedRamiro Burr. "Latin Notes: Ilegales' signature sound clear on its danceable new CD," San Antonio Express-News (Texas), January 16, 2005, Culturas section, page 8J.Jordan Levin. "Forget 'crossover': Latin music's a global culture," Miami Herald, August 31, 2003, page 1M. Dominican merenhouse group, which is one of the main exponents that helped to introduce and establish the merenhouse to the mainstream and get an international audience. The band is well known by hits such as "La Morena", "El Taqui Taqui", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Otra" and "Chucucha". They were one of the first merenhouse acts to perform at Viña del Mar International Song Festival in 1998 and 2003.
Ilegales is one of the best selling Dominican acts, receiving gold and platinum certifications across Latin America, and winning Latin Billboard Music awards, Soberano Awards, and receiving nominations to the Grammy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards on several occasions.
The group is led by singer-songwriter Vladimir Dotel and also includes David Diaz and Junior Pimentel.
Band history
The group was founded in 1993.
In 1995, Ilegales released their debut album and was certified hit. In 1996, the single "La Morena" was a massive hit and Peaked at 6 on RPM Dance Charts in Canada.World Radio History It was certified Gold in Mexico selling over 100,000 unites, Gold in Venezuela and Platinum in the United States.
In 1998, they won "Best Rap Artist" and "Best Rap Album" for Rebotando at the 1998 Latin Billboard Music Awards.Billboard Index 1998 worldradiohistory.com En la Mira, was nominated for "Best Rap Album of The Year" at the 1999 Latin Billboard Music Awards.Billboard Index 1999 worldradiohistory.com Also, in that year they performed at Viña del Mar Festival. By the end of 1999, "Ilegales" and "Rebotando" had sold over 1.5 millions of copies worldwide. and where certified four times platinum in Chile.
In 1998 came a terrible loss for the group as one of their members, Jason Gonzalez, died in an automobile accident. Their performances at the 1998 Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile were in remembrance of him.cite page|url=https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/murio-cantante-de-los-ilegales/FBYGB2WZZNADHFTWOYJYXRYIPQ/story/
In 1999, "Live" was nominated for Best Merengue Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards.Billboard Index 2001 worldradiohistory.com
In 2002, the band was nominated for the Lo Nuestro Award.Billboard Index 2002 worldradiohistory.com In addition to reaching the Billboard Tropical charts on their own, the group also had a hit with Alexandra Cabrera De La Cruz of Monchy y Alexandra. They were nominated for the Latin Grammy in 2003 for Best Pop Album.
In 2013, Ilegales received the nomination of "Tropical Songs Artist of the Year, Duo or Group" at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.
In 2015, Ilegales was nominated as "Best Group or Band" to the Lo Nuestro Award. In that same year, they performed at the Nuryn Sanlley amphitheater to celebrate 20th Anniversary of the band. The Single "Pasarla Bien" with El Potro Alvarez, become their 8th Top 10 on Billboard Tropical Airplay and peaked at number one on Venezuela airplay.
In 2019, Ilegales’ 12th studio album Tropicalia was nominated for Best Contemporary/Tropical Fusion Album at the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
In 2026, the group launched the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games official song, Corazón de fiesta, written by Vladimir Dotel.
Discography Studio albums TitleYearChartsSales USLatinUSLatin PopIlegales199522Billboard Index 1996 worldradiohistory.com12Rebotando1997158Billboard Index 1997 worldradiohistory.comEn la Mira1998—— USA: 100,000Billboard Index 1998 worldradiohistory.comOn Time2000——Marca Registrada2002——In the Room2004——La República2006—— Hecho en el Patio2009——Celebration2011——El Sonido2014——Inagotable2016——Tropicalia2019——24/72020——Otra Atmósfera2022——Otro Color2023——La Fiesta2024——Caribeño2025—— Albums that did not chart are denoted with an "—".
Live albums
Live (1999) El Sonido en Vivo (2014)
Compilation albums
Remixes (1998) Serie 2000 (2000) Ilegales: Hits (2002) La Historia (2003) 10 de Coleccion (2004) The Best of - Ultimate Collection: Ilegales (2004) Mis Favoritas: Ilegales (2010)
Charted singles Year SinglePeak chart positions Album US Latin US Tropical US Latin Pop 1995 La Morena— 8—Ilegales2000 La Ladrona36 11Billboard Index 2000 worldradiohistory.com—Live2001 "Tu Recuerdo"4Billboard Index 2001 worldradiohistory.com4Billboard Index 2001 worldradiohistory.com3Billboard Index 2001 worldradiohistory.comOn Time2002 Te Siento2029—Billboard Index 2003 worldradiohistory.comMarca Registrada "La Cosita"4111Billboard Index 2002 worldradiohistory.com— "Mi Novia"—17Billboard Index 2002 worldradiohistory.com—2007 "La Otra" (featuring Monchy & Alexandra)17Billboard Index 2007 worldradiohistory.com2Billboard Index 2007 worldradiohistory.com—La Republica2012 "Ayantame" (featuring El Potro Álvarez)491—Celebration2013 "Chucucha"25Billboard Index 2014 worldradiohistory.com7Billboard Index 2013 worldradiohistory.com—El Sonido"No me diga que no" (featuring Shelow Shaq)—10—Inagotable2014 "La Pastilla"—9Billboard Index 2015 worldradiohistory.com— "Pasarla Bien"—1Billboard Index 2015 worldradiohistory.com—
Notes
External links
Ilegales Official Page