Bad Bunny Historic Win, Gaga, Eilish and Lamar Dominate Night

Bad Bunny, the shape-shifting Puerto Rican musician, has become the first artist in the 68-year history of the Grammy Awards to win album of the year for a record sung entirely in Spanish. He was rewarded for his sixth album, Debí Tirar Mas Fotos, a personal and powerful exploration of Latin musical history that beat Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, and Sabrina Carpenter to the ceremony's main prize. The 31-year-old, who will headline next week's Super Bowl half-time show, dedicated his award to immigrants, capping a ceremony where many artists railed against the US administration's current immigration crackdown.

Among them was British star Olivia Dean, who was named best new artist. "I'm up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant," said the singer, whose grandmother Carmen was part of the Windrush generation. "I'm a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated. We're nothing without each other." Stars including Kehlani, Gloria Estefan, and Billie Eilish also spoke in support of immigrants, while several stars wore badges reading "ICE out" on the red carpet.

Bad Bunny, real name Benito Ocasio, seemed stunned when Harry Styles read out his name for the album of the year prize. He took a few moments to collect himself before walking to the stage. There were tears in his eyes as he dedicated the award "to all the people that had to leave their home, land, their country, to follow their dreams". Earlier, winning the prize for best música urbana album, he had spoken more directly. "Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," he said, referring to US immigration officers, after weeks of tension in Minneapolis, including the deaths of two civilians. "We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans."

Billie Eilish, winning song of the year for Wildflower, also addressed the turmoil gripping America. "It's just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now," she said. "And I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter, and the people matter." Wildflower, a sleeper hit from Eilish's 2024 album Hit Me Hard And Soft, became her third track to win song of the year this decade. She previously won in 2020 for her breakthrough single Bad Guy and in 2021 for the ballad Everything I Wanted.

Earlier in the ceremony, Kendrick Lamar won best rap album for GNX, at which point he overtook Jay-Z as the rapper with the most Grammy Awards, 26 in total. He later added a 27th trophy, winning record of the year for Luther, a soulful duet with R&B singer SZA. Their victory came after a confusing couple of minutes onstage when Cher, who had just received a lifetime achievement prize, was supposed to announce the record of the year nominees but left the stage instead. After being called back, she was unsure who had won and momentarily appeared to announce the prize for the late soul singer Luther Vandross, who was sampled on Lamar's track. Lamar took the fumble in stride and paid tribute to Vandross.

Londoner Lola Young won best pop performance for her breakout single Messy, while Lady Gaga's Mayhem was named best pop album. Gaga rushed to the stage to accept her 16th Grammy trophy and urged women in music to stand up for their creative vision. Golden, a hit song from the film KPop Demon Hunters, became the first K-Pop song to earn a Grammy, winning best song for visual media.

Bad Bunny took home three awards in all, a significant milestone for Latin music. Accepting album of the year, he addressed the themes of grief and loss in his record (title translates as "I should have taken more photos"). "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," he said in Spanish.

The ceremony featured standout performances from Rosé and Bruno Mars (rock version of APT), Sabrina Carpenter (elaborate Manchild), Justin Bieber (stripped-down Yukon), Bruno Mars (I Just Might), Lady Gaga (Abracadabra), and a medley tribute to Roberta Flack and others by Lauryn Hill, Chaka Khan, Jon Batiste, Wyclef Jean, and John Legend. An all-star tribute to Ozzy Osbourne included Post Malone, Slash, Duff McKagan, and Chad Smith performing War Pigs. Reba McEntire made her Grammy performance debut with Trailblazer during the In Memoriam segment.