Bad Bunny was named winner of the Grammy Award’s Album of the Year — the music industry’s equivalent of winning the Super Bowl, an event at which the Latino singer will be performing next weekend.
The 68th Grammy Awards were dispersed Sunday among some of the top names of the music industry, without a single artist dominating the 68th annual ceremonial event.
With history on the line, Compton-born rapper Kendrick Lamar was unable to capitalize on his leading nine nominations to become the most honored artist in the history of the awards, but he did win Record of the Year ]for his work with SZA on “Luther.”
Bad Bunny — a Puerto Rican, born Benito Antonio MartÃnez Ocasio — made history as the first Spanish-language artist to win the night’s top prize. He won for “DeBàTiRAR MáS FOToS.” Bad Bunny will perform next Sunday at the Super Bowl LX halftime ceremony.
Sunday’s festivities began at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, with the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony, during which the bulk of the day’s 95 awards were presented. The Premiere Ceremony, held at held at the Peacock Theater, was hosted by Darren Criss.
The main event of “Music’s Biggest Night” — at which all the glamour awards were handed out — took place at Crypto.com Arena at 5 p.m. and was hosted for the sixth and last time by comedian Trevor Noah. It aired on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+ while the Premiere Ceremony streamed live at live.grammy.com and on the Recording Academy’s YouTube pages.
The show featured the Grammys’ usual glittering galaxy of performers, including Bruno Mars, a 16-time Grammy winner. Mars joined Lady Gaga; Carpenter; Tyler, The Creator; Rosé; Justin Bieber; Post Malone; Pharrell Williams; Reba McEntire; Chad Smith; Duff McKagan; the hip-hop duo Clipse; Slash; and all eight nominees for Best New Artist.
That Best New Artist turned out to be Olivia Dean.
Song of the Year was awarded to Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” from songwriters Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell.
Meanwhile, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s duet “Defying Gravity” from the film “Wicked” won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, beating out “Golden” (from “KPop Demon Hunters”)” by Huntr/x.
The eligibility period for this year’s Grammy nominations was Aug. 31, 2024 to Aug. 30, 2025. That timeline eliminated Taylor Swift’s hit release “The Life of a Showgirl” from consideration — but it will be eligible for the 2027 Grammys.