After making his first major public appearance this year at the Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny returned to Instagram yesterday (Feb. 6). The Puerto Rican superstar reflected on his Grammy performance, winning another award, and meeting Taylor Swift.
Bad Bunny started 2023 on a rocky note when a video of him throwing a fan’s phone went viral. He called the fan trying to forcefully take selfies with him a “lack of respect.” Shortly after that, Bad Bunny set his Instagram account to private and seemingly shared a farewell message in his Twitter bio.
At the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Bad Bunny gave one of the most memorable performances of the night. He opened the show with a mash-up of his hits “El Apagón” and “Después De La Playa” from his Un Verano Sin Ti album. Bad Bunny brought elements of his Puerto Rican culture to the stage. During “Después De La Playa,” he also put merengue music from the Dominican Republic into the spotlight. Bad Bunny was joined by Dominican artist Dahian El Apechao and his band.
Though Bad Bunny lost Album of the Year to Harry Styles, he won Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti. During his speech, he shouted out reggaeton music and Puerto Rico. On his Instagram account, he further expressed more of his gratitude in a post.
“The most beautiful word that exists is: THANK YOU,” he wrote in Spanish. “I am grateful to God, for life, for the love I receive. Grateful I get to experience moments I never imagined. Thankful for the people who truly love me, the ones who genuinely support me, the ones that understand me and the ones who don’t as well. Grateful to be able to do what I love most MUSIC. I’m happy, I’m proud of myself and for that I give THANKS.”
In his photo dump post, Bad Bunny included a moment during his performance where the closed captioning read “Speaking non-English” and “Singing in non-English.” That opened up a dialog online about the need for subtitles in Spanish during live events. He also shared a photo where Taylor Swift gave him a hug. A video of Swift went viral when she was dancing to the merengue rhythm of “Después De La Playa” during Bad Bunny’s performance.