The Grammy Awards 2026!
Los Angeles, US, Feb 1 (EFE).-
Bad Bunny hit a historic milestone in both his career and for Spanish-language music on Sunday by winning Album of the Year at the 68th Grammy Awards, which were also punctuated with political messages and criticism of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
‘DeBÍ TIRAR MáS FOToS’ became the first album entirely in Spanish to win in this category, beating out some of the night’s favorites such as Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ and Justin Bieber’s Swag’.
The Puerto Rican artist also added two more American gramophones to his career, winning the awards for Best Urban Music Album and Best Global Music Performance with ‘EoO’.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out,” said the artist, who is a week away from headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, the most important sporting event in the United States, which has been criticized on multiple occasions by President Donald Trump.
However, the most awarded artist of the night was, for the second year in a row, Californian rapper Kendrick Lamar, who, with five awards, surpassed Jay-Z’s record as the rapper with the most Grammys in history, with a total of 27 gramophones.
Lamar and SZA won Record of the Year for “Luther,” receiving the award from Cher, who confused the song’s title with that of late singer Luther Vandross, who she announced to before correcting herself.
Producer Sounwave gave a quick tribute to Vandross, saying: “First and foremost, let’s give a shout-out to the late great Luther Vandross,”
“To echo what he said, this is what music is all about: Luther Vandross,” added Lamar, who took Cher’s mix-up in good humor. He said Vandross is one of his “favorite artists of all time “and that’s why he decided to include a sample of ‘If This World Were Mine’, performed by Vandross and Cheryl Lynn, in the winning song.
Singer Billie Eilish was one of the surprises of the night, winning the Grammy for Song of the Year for ‘WILDFLOWER’.
Meanwhile, Lady Gaga added to her legacy with two new awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Mayhem’ and Best Dance-Pop Recording for ‘Abracadabra’.
United Against Trump, ICE
While last year’s awards ceremony was notable for its limited political speeches, coinciding with Donald Trump’s rise to power, the 68th edition proved to be one of the most outspoken, set against a backdrop of high tension and outrage in the US after immigration agents fatally shot two US civilians in Minneapolis.
Several artists used the ceremony to speak out against ICE in the wake of deadly crackdowns on anti-immigration raid protests. The demonstrations began with defiant ‘ICE OUT’ pins worn by artists such as Eilish, Gaga and Justin Bieber, but escalated in the acceptance speeches.
“As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything, but, that no one is illegal on stolen land,” Eilish said, ending with “F*ck ICE.”
Bad Bunny also delivered a politically charged moment by placing his condemnation of the federal agency even before his personal thank yous.
“We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens – we are humans and we are Americans,” he added in a powerful speech in which he called for confronting the hatred that is increasingly polarizing society with love.
Olivia Dean, winner of the award for Best New Artist, also celebrated the legacy of immigration in her speech: “I am here as the granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here {without them]. I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated,” she said.
Performances and anecdotes
The gala also dedicated ample time to performances: Bruno Mars and Rosé opened explosively with the catchy song ‘APT’, followed by Sabrina Carpenter, who transformed the stage into an airport and, dressed as a flight attendant, performing a humorous performance of ‘Manchild’.
Lola Young couldn’t contain her emotion as she took to the stage to accept the award for Best Pop Solo Performance for ‘Messy,’ delivering one of the funniest speeches.
“I don’t have any speech prepared. Obviously, I don’t. It’s ‘Messy,’ do you know what I mean?” she asked.
Jelly Roll spoke openly about how religion helped him move forward with his life, and his speech had a political undertone when he asserted that “Jesus is not owned by one political party.”
Cher accepted the lifetime achievement award, giving a powerful speech encouraging everyone to “never give up” on their dreams. After concluding her speech to a long ovation, she was about to leave, but the presenter had to stop her to remind her that she still had one more award to present. EFE
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