Who is Bad Bunny – and how did he become the biggest thing in music? Photo / Getty Images
Bad Bunny made history yesterday, becoming the first Latin artist to win Album of the Year in the 68-year history of the Grammy Awards.
During his acceptance speech, the singer addressed ICE (US Immigration and Customers Enforcement) and earned a standing ovation from the crowd for remarks about the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown and subsequent clashes.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ICE out,” said the Puerto Rican singer.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans,” he added.
He will also perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show on Monday (NZT), which is being framed as a historic cultural moment, being the first-ever Latino solo artist to headline the highly coveted show.
MAGA supporters have called the performance “woke propaganda” and claimed it’s part of a broader effort to “troll Donald Trump” during a time of political turmoil and cultural divide in the US.
So who is Bad Bunny? What’s his real name? Which Jenner sister did he date? And how did he become the biggest name in music right now?
Benito Antonia Martinez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, was born on 10 March 1994 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
In the wake of his criticism of the Trump administration, it has been falsely claimed that Bad Bunny isn’t a US citizen – however being Puerto Rican makes him a US citizen by birth, as it is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
The 31-year-old was raised in the Almirante Sur barrio of Vega Baja by his father, truck driver Tito Martinez, and his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio, who was a school teacher.
He was raised Catholic and is the oldest brother to siblings Bernie and Bysael.
Before making a name for himself in music, he worked as a cashier at a supermarket in Puerto Rico and was studying audiovisual communication at the University of Puerto Rico.
He now lives in California and has a home in the Hollywood Hills as well as property in Miami and Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny has used his platform as a worldwide superstar and his music to champion many social justice issues for the Latino community, Puerto Rican independence, the LGBTQ+ community and police brutality.
Bad Bunny began writing music at the age of 13 and said he drew inspiration from artists Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderon and Hector Lavoe.
Both a rapper and a singer, he is known in the music world as the King of Latin Trap, and first made a name for himself with the 2016 song Diles and featured on Cardi B’s number one hit I Like It in 2018.
His music blends reggaeton and Latin trap with soul, and he has previously collaborated with Drake, Dua Lipa and Rosalia.
The singer’s most popular hits include Me Porto Bonito, Titi Me Pregunto and MIA featuring Drake. The music video for MIA has had over 1.6 billion views on YouTube alone.
Bad Bunny made history when his album Debi Tirar Mas Fotos won the 2026 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making it the first Spanish-language album to win the award.
He also took home the awards for Best Global Music Performance and Best Musica Urbana Album.
Bad Bunny has received 16 other nominations at the Grammy Awards, and including his win yesterday, he’s won six times.
At the Latin Grammy Awards, the rapper has had 52 nominations and won 17, and also won Album of the Year for Debi Tirar Mas Fotos.
He was also named Billboard’s Artist of the Year in 2022.
Bad Bunny debuted on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest in 2021 and as a host in 2023 and again in 2025.
He’s also appeared in movies Caught Stealing, Bullet Train and even had a feature role as Happy Gilmore’s caddy in Happy Gilmore 2, where he starred alongside Adam Sandler.
The singer is also a big wrestling fan and made his WWE debut in 2021.
Bad Bunny made headlines when he dated model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner in 2023.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the singer spoke about how being in the spotlight impacted his personal relationships.
“They don’t know how you feel, they don’t know how you live, they don’t know anything, and I really don’t want them to know,” he said of the media and fan attention.
“I’m not really interested in clarifying anything because I have no commitment to clarify anything to anyone.”
Before Jenner, he was in an on-and-off relationship with jewellery designer Gabriela Berlingeri from 2017 to 2022.
He was previously engaged to fellow University of Puerto Rico student Carliz de la Cruz, whom he dated from 2011 to 2017.
In 2023, some six years after their breakup, de la Cruz sued the rapper for at least $40 million over his use of a voice recording she’d provided to him before his rise to fame. The lawsuit is still ongoing.