LAURA PAUSINI WINS 4TH LATIN GRAMMY

LAURA PAUSINI WINS 4TH LATIN GRAMMY

(ANSA) - Rome, November 6 - Italian pop star Laura Pausini has picked up her fourth Latin Grammy award, winning the prestigious prize for her smash hit album 'Primavera anticipada' (Early Spring).

The 35-year-old singer, who has a huge following in Latin America, received her 'best pop vocal album by a female artist' award at a glittering ceremony in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

She last scooped the award in 2007, for Yo Canto (I Sing).

She started off her Latin prize haul in 2005 with Escucha, or Listen (a version of Resta in Ascolto, Stay on the Line), becoming the only Italian female singer to ever do so. The same album earned her a regular Grammy in 2006.

Pausini, from the northeastern Italian city of Ravenna, was named Best-Selling Italian Artist at the World Music Awards in 2007.

It was her third World Music Award.

She currently boasts worldwide record sales in excess of 50 million

Although relatively unknown in Britain and the US, her distinctive voice and song-writing skills have made her hugely popular in Europe and South America.

Pausini stormed onto the Italian music scene in 1993 when, at the age of 18, she was the surprise winner of the prestigious Sanremo music festival.