Bad Bunny wins five Latin Grammys ahead of Super Bowl

Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny was the big winner at Thursday night’s Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, taking home five trophies.

Among them was album of the year, for the acclaimed Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a project which embraced his island’s musical heritage – and paved the way for him to perform at next year’s Super Bowl half time show.

Dedicating the award to “all the youth of Latin America” he added: “There are many ways of being patriotic and defending our homelands. We chose music.”

Charismatic Argentinian duo Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso also took home five prizes; with other winners including Alejandro Sanz, Gloria Estefan and Karol G – who is set to headline next year’s Coachella festival.

The rapidly growing Latin music sector generated a record $1.4bn (£1.06bn) in 2024, making up 8.1% of total U.S. music revenue, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, which said it was shaping culture faster than any other genre.

Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has been at the forefront of that movement. For three consecutive years between 2020 and 2022, he was the most-streamed artist in the world.

Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos) is the 31-year-old’s sixth album, and fuses live instrumentation with the hip-swaying pulse of reggaetón and traditional Puerto Rican styles like plena.

At the Latin Grammys, the title track earned him best urban song and best urban performance. He also picked up best reggaetón performance for Voy a llevarte pa PR, and best urban music album for Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

He is also nominated for six awards at the mainstream Grammys, which take place in February, including the three major categories of album, song and record of the year.

The star recently wrapped up a barnstorming concert residency in Puerto Rico; and is about to kick off his world tour in the Dominican Republic.

However, he made headlines when he said the tour would not include any dates on the US mainland because he was concerned his fans might be targeted by immigration raids.

His subsequent booking for next year’s Super Bowl rankled some US conservatives.

President Trump called the decision “absolutely ridiculous” and that he had “never heard” of the star – who has 74 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

The Latin Grammy ceremony kicked off with a star-studded tribute to Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana, with Maluma, Edgar Barrera, Grupo Frontera and Christian Nodal playing a medley that began with his hit single Oye Como Va.

Karol G and Marco Antonio Solís also took the stage for a sweet duet on Coleccionando Heridas; while Gloria Estefan played songs from her latest record Raíces, which went on to win best tropical album.

But Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso were judged to have the stand-out moment of the evening, with a colourful, off-the-wall medley of their hits El Impostor, #Tetas, La Que Puede, Puede and El Día Del Amigo.

Dressed in vivdly patterened Versace outfits, the duo played in front of four nearly naked, tattooed body builders, who carefully operated sewing machines at tiny, school-sized desks.

At the end of the performance, the duo threw dozens of heart-shaped pillows into the audience, all containing the phrase “te amo”, supposedly stitched by their hunky counterparts.

They duo dominated the alternative music categories – winning best alternative album and best alternative song. They also picked up best short-form and best long-form video, and pop song of the year for El Día Del Amigo.

Speaking backstage, the childhood friends expressed their gratitude to each other.

“The most important thing here is that we’ve known each other since we were six years old,” said Amoroso.

“All of this wasn’t planned, it just happened. I want to tell Ca7riel that he’s my friend, that I love him.”

Ca7riel then surprised Paco with a long and seemingly passionate kiss.

Elsewhere, Paloma Morphy, a 25-year-old Mexican, won best new artist after her debut album, Au, seduced listeners with its catchy melodies and vulnerable stories of heartbreak.

Colombian star Karol G won won song of the year for Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido, a lilting love song with a Merengue flavour, from her blockbuster fifth album Tropicoqueta.

And Spanish superstar Alejandro Sanz picked up record of the year for his beautiful ballad Palmeras en el Jardín – unexpectedly beating Bad Bunny’s smash hit Baile Inolvidable.

Accepting the award, Sanz expressed his surprise, saying “Benito, I stole it from you, forgive me.”