Entertainment News

Bad Bunny wins album of the year, the first in Spanish, on a Grammys night of ICE protests

Bad Bunny won album of the year at the 68th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 1, for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. NPR reports that it is the first primarily Spanish-language album to win the prize. Kendrick Lamar and SZA won record of the year for “Luther”, Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell won song of the year for “Wildflower”, and Olivia Dean was best new artist.

Immigration enforcement ran through the speeches. NPR says Bad Bunny opened his first speech of the night, for best música urbana album, with a message aimed at ICE, the US immigration agency.

“Before I say thanks to God, I'm gonna say ICE out.” — Bad Bunny, via NPR

CP24 adds that Harry Styles presented album of the year and that Bad Bunny dedicated the award to people who had to leave their homeland. Eilish and Kehlani both criticised ICE with an expletive, and Shaboozey thanked his immigrant mother.

How each outlet framed it

• NPR — the historic win and the political speeches, including Olivia Dean's “I'm a product of bravery.”
• CP24 — the speeches plus records: Lamar's 27 career Grammys, past Jay-Z, and Steven Spielberg's first Grammy, which completes his EGOT.
• Gulf News — Trevor Noah hosting “for his sixth and final time” and the first Grammy for a K-pop act, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters.
• Outlook India — the full winners list, with Kendrick Lamar leading the nominations with nine.

What we don't know yet: Bad Bunny headlines the Super Bowl halftime show on February 8, a week after the ceremony. None of these reports says whether he will repeat his ICE message there.