Bad Bunny, the Latino rap star whose forthcoming Super Bowl gig has ignited a culture wars controversy, won the top Grammy prize on Sunday (Feb 1), a first for a Spanish-language album, with ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’, a celebration of his Puerto Rican roots.

The 31-year-old performer-producer edged out fellow megastars Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga in what amounted to a three-way race to clinch his first album-of-the-year Grammy, considered the pinnacle of the music industry’s highest honours, a Reuters report from Los Angeles stated.

“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country to follow their dreams,” the Puerto Rican artist said in his acceptance speech, tapping into expressions of solidarity for immigrants evident throughout the show.

‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’, a musical tribute to Bad Bunny’s Caribbean island homeland, marked his sixth studio set and was heavily favoured after winning the Latin Grammys’ album of the year award in November.

Grammy recognition of Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, carried strong political overtones given his outspoken criticism of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps ordered by US President Donald Trump in cities across the country.

The singer-producer skipped the continental United States on his recent concert tour, saying he feared federal immigration agents would show up to arrest his fans.

Bad Bunny openly supported Trump’s Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.

Accepting her award as best new artist, British soul-pop singer Olivia Dean paid tribute to a grandmother who immigrated to Britain from Guyana as a teenager seeking a new life.

Lamar, the chart-topping hip-hop sensation who led the field of Grammy contenders going into Sunday’s show with nine nominations, came away with five awards, including best rap album for his latest studio set ‘GNX’ and a shared award for record of the year for “luther,” his wistful duet with R&B singer-songwriter SZA.

The award for song of the year, honouring composers, went to Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, for her hit single ‘Wildflower’. ‘Golden’, the smash hit from the Netflix animated movie ‘KPop Demon Hunters’, made history during the non-televised portion of the awards when it was named best song written for visual media, marking the first time the KPop music genre has ever earned Grammy glory.

The song was performed in the film by a fictional band called HUNTR/X, voiced by real-life vocalists EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rein Ami.

Lady Gaga won Grammys for best pop vocal album with ‘Mayhem’, and best dance-pop recording for ‘Abracadabra’.

Trevor Noah returned to host the festivities for a sixth time, which he had said would be his last Grammys gig. The show aired live on the CBS network from the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, 79, achieved EGOT status — one of the rarest honours in the entertainment industry — after winning his first Grammy award for best music film for ‘Music by John Williams’, which he produced. EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Grammy winners are chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy — industry peers including artists, songwriters, producers and engineers — whose ranks have been revamped over the past seven years to increase diversity. About 1,000 Latin Grammys voters became eligible to vote this year, and 73 percent of members have joined since 2019.

Meanwhile,  a PTI report from Los Angeles said the Dalai Lama has won a Grammy for his spoken word album ‘Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ at a glittering and politically charged music gala, the first golden gramophone for the 90-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader.

The 68th Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah and held at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday night, recognised winners in over 90 categories.

While the Dalai Lama’s followers in the Himachal Pradesh town of Dharamshala and elsewhere celebrated, Indian and Indian origin artistes, including Anoushka Shankar, fusion band Shakti and Siddhant Bhatia, were nominated but didn’t manage a win.