Bad Bunny was the biggest victor at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards, taking home five awards, including the gong for the coveted Album of the Year.
The Puerto Rican rapper and singer was nominated for 12 awards at the 26th annual ceremony, ultimately clinching five, among them Album of the Year for the acclaimed ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’, the success of which set him on a path to headline next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Dedicating the award to “all the youth of Latin America” at Thursday’s (November 13) ceremony, he said: “There are many ways of being patriotic and defending our homelands. We chose music.”
Additional wins came from ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ tracks ‘DtMF‘ and ‘Voy A Llevarte Pa PR’, with the former winning in both the Best Urban Song and Best Urban/Urban Fusion Performance categories and the latter in Best Reggaeton Performance. He also picked up a win for Best Urban Music Album.
The announcement that he would be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show back in September came shortly after he shared that he would not be touring the US during his ongoing world tour due to fears over ICE agents raiding his concerts.
News of his slot proved divisive among right-wing circles, with organisation Turning Point USA – which was founded by the late Charlie Kirk – announcing plans for an ‘All American Halftime Show’. It will be held at the same time and date as the NFL halftime show, with Sting set to perform.
President Donald Trump called the move to have Bad Bunny headline “crazy” and claimed he had “never heard of” the rapper, and one of his advisors confirmed that ICE would be present at the “shameful” concert.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reiterated ICE’s presence at the concert, and a petition began circulating online urging for Bad Bunny to be dropped and country singer George Strait to be booked as a replacement. The latter has over 96,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Bad Bunny – real name Benito Ocasio – took aim at the backlash while hosting Saturday Night Live, joking that “everyone is happy” about the concert, “even Fox News.”
In Spanish, he added that it was a milestone moment for “all the Latinos and Latinas in the whole world, and here in the United States, all the people who have worked to open doors, more than I have achieved, who have achieved everything, demonstrating that our way, our carrying of this country, no one can ever remove nor erase.”
He then wrapped up the monologue in English, and quipped: “And if you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
The NFL has defended Bad Bunny’s slot, with Commissioner Roger Goodell telling the press that the NFL were firm in their decision and reaffirming that the move was “carefully thought through.”
Jay-Z – who serves as the NFL’s music strategist via his label Roc Nation’s partnership with the league – has backed up Bad Bunny twice, too. Earlier in the month, he called the rapper “truly inspiring” and added that his team felt “honoured to have him on the world’s biggest stage”. More recently, he shared that he wasn’t convinced that the backlash was authentic, saying: “They love him. Don’t let them fool you”.
Little is known about the “alternative” concert being put on by Turning Point USA, although reps for both Willie Nelson and Carlos Santana have shut down rumours that they may be involved.
Elsewhere, Rosalía clarified a previous comment that she was the “opposite” of Bad Bunny, claiming it had been taken “out of context”.
