On Thursday night, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny took home the biggest prize at the Latin Grammy awards: His genre-bending homage to his island, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, won album of the year. Despite the fact that he had a dozen trophies in his case before the night even began, he had never won any in the show's three major categories — album, record or song of the year.
The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio appeared perplexed as he walked onstage during the Las Vegas ceremony, initially heading in the wrong direction before he corrected course and approached the microphone to accept the night's final golden gramophone. The 31-year-old thanked his family and collaborators, and dedicated the award to all the young people of Latin America and Puerto Rico in particular. "Hay muchas maneras de hacer patria y defender nuestra tierra — nosotros escogemos la música," he said. ("There are many ways to show patriotism and defend our land — we choose music.")
Bad Bunny won four additional Latin Grammys in the urban and reggaeton categories. The Latin Grammy victories have the potential to kick off a season of wins for the rapper. He is also nominated for six awards at the Grammys, (including album of the year, song of the year and record of the year) and will headline the halftime show during the Super Bowl in February.
When it came to the other major categories at the 26th annual Latin Grammys — song of the year and record of the year — the Latin Recording Academy awarded familiar faces. Colombian pop-reggaetonera Karol G received song of the year for her Dominican-infused merengue hit, "Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido," alongside her fellow songwriters Edgar Barrera and Andres Jael Correa Rios. Record of the year went to Spanish artist and composer Alejandro Sanz for his slow pop ballad, "Palmeras En El Jardín."
"Benito, I stole it from you. Forgive me," Sanz joked in Spanish as he accepted the award, referring to Bad Bunny by his first name. Cameras panned to Bad Bunny, who laughed and clapped.
The Latin Grammys spanned 60 categories in all, which included a wide range of genres as well as behind-the-scenes awards for production, arranging and visual media. The majority of those awards were given out earlier in the evening, before the main ceremony began in Las Vegas.
Another big winner of the night was the Argentine duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, who took home five awards across the pop, alternative and music video categories for their exuberant yet satirical album Papota. (Around half of the album was recorded during their performance at NPR's Tiny Desk last year, and one NPR engineer is listed among the nominees for his contributions to the album.) The childhood best friends delivered one of the most energetic performances of the ceremony, a medley of their songs that featured prop sewing machines and bodybuilders as on-stage extras and culminated in CA7RIEL and Paco perched on top of office chairs.
The award for best new artist went to Mexican alt-pop singer Paloma Morphy. Legacy artists like Gloria Estefan, Fito Páez and Rubén Blades also received awards in the traditional tropical, rock and salsa categories, respectively.
Brazilian soul singer Liniker — who made history in 2022 as the first trans woman to ever win a Latin Grammy — was nominated for six awards, including album of the year, song of the year and record of the year. She won for best Portuguese language album, best Portuguese language urban performance and best Portuguese language song for her project Caju. But Liniker stole the show during a performance near the end of the ceremony, dancing her way through the funky "Negona Dos Olhos Terriveis" and getting celebrities like Karol G, Gloria Estefan and Elena Rose moving along with her.
Winners and presenters largely avoided addressing heightened political tensions and anxieties faced by Latino communities in the United States, focusing instead on celebrating pan-Latin music and artistry. Legendary corrido band Los Tigres del Norte was an exception. During their performance of the socially conscious "La Lotería," the group played with instruments decked out in Latin American flags. Behind them, they projected images of immigrants rights protests across the country.
When power duo Gloria and Emilio Estefan accepted the Grammy for best traditional tropical album for Raíces, they ended their speech with a nod to the Latin diaspora. "Se lo dedico a todos los Latinos que seguimos triunfando en todas partes del mundo," Emilio Estefan said. "Viva la musica Latina." ("I dedicate this to all of us Latinos who keep succeeding all over the world. Long live Latin music.")
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