Music is deeply ingrained in Latino culture. It’s emerged as a special way to connect the community to the environment. Across genres, generations, and geographies, Latino musicians have found ways—both subtle and explicit—to bring listeners closer to nature. It helps us understand how we’re shaped by the places around us and to think critically about environmental injustice and lack of access to clean air, clean energy, and a healthy place to live—a perfect conduit.
For Hispanic Heritage Month, here are seven musicians and bands merging music and environmental themes, on and off-stage.
Maná
Maná, the 12-time Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning band and first Spanish-speaking group nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, brings Mexican rhythms and messages of intergenerational justice to the global stage. They’ve written and performed songs all over the map. There’s one that honors legendary Amazon defender Chico Mendes and another that tells the story of an ant’s struggle for survival amid deforestation. Perhaps most notable is their 1992 hit “¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?” (Where will the children play?), which recalls a grandfather’s childhood memories of clean seas, clear skies, and abundant wildlife, all now lost to human-caused pollution.
In 1996, Maná turned lyrics into real-life action, establishing the Selva Negra Ecological Foundation to protect at-risk ecosystems and educate communities about safeguarding Mother Earth in Mexico and beyond.
Bad Bunny
Through countless tracks, performances, and even fashion choices, Bad Bunny uses his platform to bring attention to climate disasters and energy justice in Puerto Rico, his home. His 2026 Super Bowl halftime show was a perfect example: 128.2 million people watched him climb a utility pole as flashes of electricity filled the air behind him. Blasting through the stadium was “El Apagón” (The blackout), a song he released alongside a documentary about Puerto Rico’s chronic power outages and the lingering impacts of climate-supercharged Hurricane Maria.
Check out Bad Bunny on YouTube.
Rubén Blades
Salsa pioneer Rubén Blades is a Panamanian singer and songwriter often credited with imbuing the genre with a social conscience through his commentary on sociopolitical issues at home and among Latinos in the U.S. His best-selling album and title track “Siembra” (Planting)—recorded with salsa icon Willie Colón—uses the language of nature to call on listeners to “plant” the seeds of a better future. The album’s opening song, “Plástico” (Plastic), takes aim at the superficiality of consumer culture, warning that the pursuit of material wealth can come at the expense of Latino cultural roots and authenticity.
In 2024, Rubén explicitly called for climate action with an original song for Black Butterflies, a film connecting global warming to stories of human displacement and migration. He has attributed his desire to care for the planet to his grandmother’s environmental consciousness. Fun fact: Ruben was the minister of tourism for Panama from 2004 to 2009.
Gloria Estefan
Cuban American pop icon Gloria Estefan channels her infectious, upbeat energy into messages of optimism and collective climate action. She speaks openly about climate change, particularly its negative impacts on her beloved hometown, Miami, Florida, while encouraging people to join forces for a better future. In 2023, she reimagined her world-famous hit “Conga” for the educational video “This Is Cooler,” made by the Aspen Institute’s This Is Planet Ed initiative. The resulting “Climate Songa” turned the dance anthem into a call to action.
This year, Gloria and her daughter, Emily, debuted Basura (Garbage), a musical inspired by young Paraguayans who transform landfill waste into instruments, at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Set in an under-resourced community drowned by pollution, the story highlights the community’s resilience and creativity, while raising questions about who bears the burden of society’s waste.
Pitbull
Also known as “Mr. Worldwide,” Pitbull played a significant role in bringing Latin music into mainstream pop. He has also brought climate change messages to global audiences. He released the albums Global Warming (2012), Globalization (2014), and Climate Change (2017) to spark conversations about the issue that transcends borders.
Beyond music, he became a Global Ambassador for the United Nations’ Clean Water Campaign in 2018, speaking out about access to safe water and the devastating impacts of climate change. In his statement for the UN’s World Water Day, his message was clear: Climate change can exacerbate both devastating droughts and flooding, and the health of our climate affects everyone.
Natalia Lafourcade
Through a blend of Mexican folk, indie pop, and Latin alternative music, Natalia Lafourcade invites listeners to connect with the histories, memories, and emotions embedded in their environments. There’s “Soledad y el Mar” (Solitude and the sea) and “Pajarito Colibri” (Hummingbird). A more explicit ode to environmental-human reciprocity, “Tierra Querida” (Beloved land), celebrates the land that grows fruits and the people who steward it.
Natalia has turned these messages into on-the-ground action too. Following the 2017 earthquakes in her hometown of Veracruz, her foundation helped restore an important cultural center and birthplace of traditional Son Jarocho music. Her action was about healing community, cultural meaning, and the sense of belonging rooted in it, a theme central to her most streamed song, “Hasta la raiz” (Down to the roots).
SonTierra
SonTierra’s name carries a double meaning: “Sound of Earth” and “They Are Earth”—a fitting reflection of the band’s plea for the protection of the planet and each other. The multigenerational group, co-created by Artes Latinas and EcoMúsica, an initiative of Moms Clean Air Force’s EcoMadres program, brings together artists with roots in Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico, blending musical genres and family-centered messages that resonate with the ethnically and culturally diverse Latino community.
At a time when Latinos face disproportionate environmental and health burdens, SonTierra shows how music and joy can be a powerful tool for bringing people together, sharing information, and inspiring action. This mission comes through in the song “Legado” (Legacy), which calls on parents and caregivers to protect the Earth for young and future generations: “Will you help protect this land?… I’ll inherit what you left me, may your legacy bring life!”
Check out SonTierra on YouTube.
Tell Congress: The Climate Clock Is Ticking. Act Now for Our Kids’ Future.