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The eve of Thanksgiving, New York hosted a party that was a mix of many things – a homecoming, a release party, a surprise, and a sort of communion. Madison Square Garden – the mythical arena where everyone from Springsteen to Harry Styles has claimed the stage – opened its doors to a crowd that looked less like an audience and more like a family reunion. There were flags – plenty of them – Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican – and a great sense of collective excitement and pride. The reason for this get together? Romeo Santos and Prince Royce, finally, impossibly, devoutly – together. The two icons of Bachata – nicknamed King and Prince of the genre, respectively – have been covertly working on a 13-track surprise album, keeping everything under wraps until the very last minute. The news dropped officially when Romeo Santos teased a new album on his Instagram.
‘Better Late Than Never’ is an album that has been years in the making – since 2017 to be precise – and traces the careers of the two legendary singers. The listening party was a celebration of this longstanding friendship. When the lights went up and revealed the two Bachateros on stage, against the backdrop of the New York skyline, the Garden picked up a pulse. A burst of collective euphoria, running from the upper decks to the floor, a joyous roar between pride, memory, and excitement. It was the sound of kids who grew up with bachata leaking from their parents’ kitchen radios, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their parents, cousins, friends for the release of ‘Better Late Than Never’.
Romeo Santos and Prince Royce have kept this album carefully secluded away from public eyes and ears, to the point of them devising code names – Batman and Robin – for the music video production and any preparatory work on the release. For a surprise release, the energy felt explosive. The two artists appeared side by side, and the arena shifted.
With New York subway cars and the subway stairs onstage, Romeo Santos and Prince Royce began their presentation of their album. Part sung, part presented and narrated, the listening party was a dynamic show that invited listeners into the world of bachata, New York Latin communities, stories of romance, temptation, seduction and community. Focus track ‘Dardos’ made a strong impact, and ‘Jezabel’ also stood out, with the latter having strong R&B influences. ‘Ay! San Miguel’, a Dominican palo, was a vibrant and more hybrid title which also worked wonders on the crowd. Immaculate stage presence and a feverish connection to their fanbase set the pulse for the evening.
What Santos and Royce played felt like a mirror held up to the city hosting them. Better Late Than Never threads the traditional lines of bachata with R&B undertones, and the kind of bilingual storytelling that just screams “New York”. When the final track – ‘La Última Bachata‘ – drifted in with its bolero ghosts and tributes to Selena Quintanilla, Michael Jackson, Jenni Rivera, Prince, and Dominican legends, the room fell into a rare hush. For a moment, The Garden felt like a church.
There was an emotional honesty to the night. For New Yorkers – especially the Dominican and wider Latino communities that built bachata into the city’s unofficial heartbeat – this wasn’t just an album release. It was an intergenerational tribute, a reminder of the soundtracks that raised them, and a tribute to a New York that still belongs to its diasporas.
As the album track reveal came to a close – the two bachata stars reprised some of their classic, closing with Aventura’s iconic track, ‘Obsesión’. As members of Aventura in the audience listened, Santos looked out at the Garden with an expression of gratitude and tribute – aware of what this city gave him – and what he’s giving back. Royce smiled beside him, the younger prince stepping comfortably into legacy.
