Ricky Martin penned an open letter to Bad Bunny in Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día after the singer’s big Grammys win on Sunday night. The musician took home three awards, including album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, making him the first artist in history to win the top Grammy with an LP entirely in Spanish.
Martin’s letter, titled “When One of Ours Succeeds, We All Succeed,” praised his fellow countryman for his achievement. “Benito, brother, seeing you win three Grammy Awards, one of them for album of the year with a production entirely in Spanish, touched me deeply,” Martin wrote in Spanish (translation via Billboard). “Not only as an artist, but as a Puerto Rican who has walked stages around the world carrying his language, his accent, and his story.”
He continued, “I know what it means to succeed without letting go of where you come from. I know how heavy it is, what it costs, and what is sacrificed when you decide not to change because others ask you to. That’s why what you have achieved is not just a historic musical accomplishment, it’s a cultural and human victory. You won without changing the color of your voice. You won without erasing your roots. You won by staying true to Puerto Rico.”
Martin praised Bad Bunny for not feeling the need to “soften the Spanish or hide the identity” to become a global success. He also complimented his fellow artist’s acceptance speech, saying it gave him a lump in his throat.
“What touched me most about seeing you there on the Grammy stage was the silence of the entire audience when you spoke,” Martin wrote. “When you defended the immigrant community, when you pointed out a system that persecutes and separates, you spoke from a place I know very well, that place where fear and hope coexist, where millions live between languages, borders, and deferred dreams.”
Martin concluded, “This achievement is for a generation to whom you taught that their identity is non-negotiable and that success is not at odds with authenticity. From the heart, from one Boricua to another, with respect and love, I thank you for reminding us that when one of ours succeeds, we all succeed.”
Bad Bunny will deliver the first Super Bowl halftime headlining show in Spanish on Sunday, another historic moment. In a trailer for the show released last month, he promised, “The world will dance.”
During his speech at the Grammys on Sunday night, Bad Bunny said, “I want to dedicate this award to all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams. For all the people who have lost someone close to them and had to continue forward with lots of strength, this award is for you… To all of the Latinos of the world and all the artists that came before me, who deserved to be on this floor winning this award, thank you so much.”
Bad Bunny has received 16 Grammy nominations throughout his career, and won three. Debi Tirar Mas Fotos got him six nominations, and made him the first Spanish-language artist to be nominated for Album, Record, and Song of the Year in the same year.
