What the settlement resolves
Los Lobos and Sony Music Entertainment have jointly agreed to dismiss the band's breach-of-contract lawsuit over royalties for "Canción del Mariachi," the Chicano rock band's collaboration with Antonio Banderas from the 1995 western "Desperado." A Friday (Aug. 21) court filing, first reported by Billboard, confirmed the dismissal, and the band's attorney Evan Cohen told the publication the matter has been settled while declining to share deal terms. A Sony representative did not immediately return a request for comment, and Banderas was not a party to the case.
Background of the dismissed case
Los Lobos sued Sony Music, whose imprint Milan Records distributes "Canción del Mariachi," in December 2025, alleging it had not received any digital royalties for the recording despite renewed popularity. The band argued that streams had surged after mixed martial artist Ilia "El Matador" Topuria adopted the track as his walkout anthem, and that "Sony and Milan still paid nothing to Los Lobos for streaming, and continues to pay nothing, for streaming anywhere in the world or for any time period." Sony Music broadly denied wrongdoing and liability in its first response to the lawsuit in February before the parties reached the August 21 settlement.
The separate 'La Bamba' dispute that continues
Even after Friday's agreement, Los Lobos still faces a pending lawsuit against a different division of the Japanese media conglomerate, Sony Pictures Entertainment, over royalties from the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic "La Bamba." Filed in November 2025, that suit alleges Los Lobos has been deprived of international streaming royalties for various Valens covers recorded for the soundtrack, including the band's version of "La Bamba," which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. Sony Pictures and its subsidiary Columbia Pictures handle royalty accounting for that soundtrack outside the United States and Canada.
Status of the 'La Bamba' litigation
Sony Pictures has said it complied with all payment obligations to Los Lobos. According to court filings, the company investigated after the "La Bamba" lawsuit was filed and found that about $17,000 in foreign streaming royalties had been underpaid for a "discrete time period," then sent Los Lobos that amount plus interest, totaling $22,000, this past January. Los Lobos contends additional money is still owed, and mediation in that matter remains ongoing.
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