Musician and global superstar Bad Bunny made waves at last night’s 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, CA. The star added three Grammy wins to his list of awards and now has a total of six Grammys.

In light of the political climate and ongoing ICE raids across the nation, many celebrities wore small white pins with the message “ICE OUT” on them. And while this is an act of expression that is appreciated at a moment when expression is under attack, other artists chose to be more explicitly vocal about their opposition to the violent raids when they hit the stage.

The most potent stance and message for me was that of Bad Bunny who, in fact, did not wear a pin. His stance was more powerful because his actions spoke louder than words, or in this case, small words on small pins. He acted: he spoke candidly and firmly about what he believes in.

“Before I say thanks to God, I gonna say: ICE out,” Bad Bunny said when he took the stage to accept his award for Best Música Urbana Album. His comment was met with roaring applause from the audience. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We’re human and we are Americans,” the Puerto Rico native went on to say.

As the night closed, he made history as his DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS album won the award for Album Of The Year — the first time a Spanish-language album wins the award in all the 68 years the Grammy Awards have been around.

But last night wasn’t the first time Bad Bunny made Grammy history. In 2023, his Un verano sin ti album was the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for Album Of The Year.

Beyond making history, why is it significant that DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Bad Bunny’s homage to his Puerto Rico, won Album Of The Year last night?

The win shows us that Bad Bunny is successfully spearheading the movement to not “crossover” into English because, well, why? Why should an artist, or any of us, change who we are or the language we speak to make music or any art? Bad Bunny has shown the world that Spanish language and Latin culture are exciting, powerful, and mainstream.

Not crossing over is further emphasized by his choice to begin his acceptance for Album Of The Year in Spanish and speak for most of it in Spanish. Whereas lots of signage, announcements, or awards acceptance speeches by other artists begin in English and then translate to Spanish, Bad Bunny’s choice to begin in Spanish was a conscious one: Spanish is not secondary nor is it an afterthought; it is the thought.

In fact, Bad Bunny didn’t even translate what he said in Spanish into English, again highlighting that he doesn’t need to explain or translate himself. He is unapologetically himself, reminding me of his 2020 album YHLQMDLG — initials that stand for “yo hago lo que me da la gana” which translates to “I do what I want” in English. YHLQMDLG brought Bad Bunny his first Grammy win — a sign that Bad Bunny’s confidence and refusal to listen to anyone would bring him future success.

Gracias Bad Bunny por ser quien eres, por crear música divertida y por ser orgulloso de ser Latino 🙂