The Billboard Latin Music Award for Hot Latin Song of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, a ceremony which honors "the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales, radio airplay, online streaming and social data that informs Billboard's weekly charts." The award is given to the best performing singles on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart, which measures the most popular Latin recordings in the United States. The Hot Latin Songs chart was established by the magazine in September 1986 and was originally based on airplay on Latin music radio stations. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, radio airplay, and online streaming. From 1995 to 1998, each music genre's field had their own Hot Latin Track of the Year category.

"Vuelve" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fourth studio album, Vuelve (1998). The song was written by Franco De Vita, while the production was handled by K. C. Porter and Draco Rosa. It was released to radio stations by Sony Discos as the lead single from the album on January 26, 1998. A Spanish language power ballad and Latin pop song with elements of rock and gospel, it is about the singer's true love, who gives the meaning of his life. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its romantic lyrics and Martin's vocal.