Music lovers everywhere were captivated on the morning of November 7th as the biggest night of the year for music, The Grammys, announced the nominations for 2026. To many, this is always a time of celebration, but also anger, as people declare their favorite artists to be “snubbed” or claiming that certain nominees did not deserve their spot on the list. I, however, was amongst the celebrations due to one particular artist’s nominations, Bad Bunny. With the announcement came a historic breakthrough for Latino artists as he became the first Spanish-language artist to earn three out of the four major awards of the night: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist.
2025 has been quite the year for the Puerto Rican singer, starting with the release of his seventh studio album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS in early January. The rest of the year has cemented him in music history with his sold out 31-show residency in Puerto Rico, being named the Top Latin Artist of the Century at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, being announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show headliner, and much more, including starring in the hit movie, Happy Gilmore 2. Now, Benito is paving the way for future Latin artists whose music had been previously ignored by the Academy outside of The Latin Grammys, which are being held on November 13, 2025 with Bad Bunny being nominated for 12. DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS is joining the only other fully Spanish album to be nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy, its older sibling, Un Verano Sin Ti. The 2022 album was the first Spanish album to be nominated for this award, making Bad Bunny the sole artist to hold this title.
These nominations and historical marks come at a very dire time for Latinos everywhere. It’s no secret that being Latino currently comes with a very large target on your back, and the same could be said for Bad Bunny. Many right-wing influencers and news personalities had denounced the NFL for choosing him as the halftime show performers, and there has even been an effort to create a new show, spearheaded by Turning Point USA —– famously Charlie Kirk’s political company now run by his widow, Erika Kirk. Bad Bunny however hasn’t allowed this backlash and attacks to take away from his mission of uplifting the Latino community. Not only did his residency boost the Puerto Rican economy exponentially, but he also decided to completely skip the continental USA on his list of tour stops. This decision was based on his fear of ICE turning his concerts into raid-hot spots and because –– as he said in his own words –– it wasn’t necessary for him.
Despite the attempts to bring him down or discredit his popularity, Bad Bunny only continues to rise. He currently sits at 12th place on Spotify’s monthly listeners list –– raking in an impressive 70 million monthly listeners –– and many are considering him to be the most famous American artist at the moment. Amílcar Barreto, a political science professor at Northwestern University, certainly agrees, stating, “if you’re thinking about music culture right now, he’s at the top of the summit. But by doing it in Spanish, he’s challenging the idea that English is the only legitimate language in American life. That’s why it reads like a provocation –– it’s not just music.”This quote comes after the backlash the singer received after his most recent SNL host monologue where he told audiences that they have four months to learn Spanish before his halftime show performance. Of course, many did not like this joke and some politicians, especially Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, used it as proof that her bill to make English the official language of the United States must be passed. However, Benito is only growing larger and larger as the year goes on. Now with these historic Grammy nominations, Benito is looking at a just as eventful 2026. His love letter to his hometown, people, and ethnicity is about to be an Academy Award winner, proving to the world and especially our government that Latinos aren’t going away anytime soon.