LOS ANGELES — Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar took home major Grammy awards during a night that saw artists lash out back at Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigrants.The 68th Grammy Awards announced their winners at a ceremony held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, US, on Sunday.Bunny, the shape-shifting Puerto Rican musician, has become the first artist in the 68-year history of the awards to win album of the year with a record sung entirely in Spanish.He took home three awards, for album of the year, best música urbana album and global music performance, and used his time on stage to call out anti-immigration sentiment.“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out,” he said. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we’re humans and we are Americans … The only thing more powerful than hate is love so please we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them, we love our people, we love our families and that’s the way to do it, we love.” 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 immigration policy.Bunny 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.One of the night’s top honors, Song of the Year, was won by Billie Eilish for Wildflower, while Record of the Year went to Luther, a collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and SZA.In the rap categories, Kendrick Lamar emerged as the night’s most prominent name, winning the Best Rap Album for GNX, Best Rap Song for TV Off, and Best Melodic Rap Performance for Luther.British star Olivia Dean was named best new artist.”I’m up here as the grand-daughter 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.Bunny, whose real name is Benito Ocasio, seemed to be 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”.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.Best Pop Solo Performance went to Lola Young for Messy, while Best Music Video was awarded to Doechii for Anxiety.In alternative music, The Cure won Best Alternative Music Album with Songs of a Lost World, while in the rock category, Best Rock Album went to Turnstile for Never Enough.In film and television music, Ludwig Goransson received the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media award for the film Sinners. The song Golden, featured in the film K-Pop Demon Hunters, won Best Song Written for Visual Media, marking a first in this category.The night saw emotional star-led in memoriam segments including Post Malone paying tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Lauryn Hill paying tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack while also reuniting with Wyclef Jean on stage.Nominated artists who went home empty-handed included Carpenter, Bieber and Hayley Williams.Last year saw Beyoncé win her first ever album of the year award with Lamar, Carpenter and Charli xcx also winning major awards. — Agencies
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