©PA
At the Grammy Awards 2026, Bad Bunny made history: he won the evening's most prestigious award, Album of the Year, becoming the first Latino artist - and the first with a body of work almost entirely in Spanish - to do so.
The award-winning album is Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a project born out of a thoughtful return to Puerto Rico and an exploration of Latin American musical traditions.
For a few seconds, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio sat with his head in his hands, visibly overwhelmed by emotion. He then dedicated his award to all those who live the experience of migration, at a particularly tense historical moment in the United States.
The album's success is not just symbolic. Debí Tirar Más Fotos represents a clear artistic statement, which places language, identity and memory at the center. It's a work born on the bangs of American industry logic and, precisely for this reason, took on an even stronger dimension on the stage of Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena.
Bad Bunny had already shown consistency in his choices, canceling certain concerts in the U.S. in 2025 so as not to expose his fans to ICE operations. His Grammy win thus appears to be both artistic recognition and confirmation of a clearly asserted personal trajectory.
The reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement was one of the common threads running through the evening. Accepting the award for Best Urban Music Album, Bad Bunny declared:
"Before I thank God, I'll say one thing: Ice, out. We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are human beings and we are Americans".
The singer's words come amid a climate of strong protest following the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. Several artists have chosen to use the stage as a space for denunciation, including Billie Eilish, who won the Song of the Year award with Wildflower. The singer declared:
"No one is illegal on stolen land. We must continue to speak out and protest."
Olivia Dean, crowned Best New Artist, also linked her award to her family history:
"I'm the granddaughter of an immigrant. I'm the fruit of his courage and I think people like my grandfather should be celebrated."
Numerous artists, including Billie Eilish, Finneas and Justin Bieber, wore badges bearing messages such as Ice Out, turning the ceremony into a collective stand against the brutalities committed by this branch of the federal forces.
The ceremony was also marked by the success of Kendrick Lamar, who walked away with five awards, including Best Rap Album for GNX and Best Performance for Luther with SZA, reaching a total of 27 Grammys in his career. Lady Gaga won Best Pop Album with Mayhem, and KPop's Golden Demon Hunters scored the first K-pop win in Grammy history.
(©GreenMe.it 2026 / Managing Editor: Selma Keshkire - The Press Junction / Picture: Picture Alliance - NurPhoto -Image Press Agency)