Bad Bunny won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammy Awards last night (February 1, 2026), taking the top prize for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS and making history as the first all-Spanish-language album to win the Recording Academy’s biggest category.
Onstage, Bad Bunny looked visibly moved as he accepted the award, first shouting out Puerto Rico and thanking the people who helped bring the album to life. He then switched to a more personal message, dedicating the win to people who have had to leave their homeland to follow their dreams, and urging empathy and love over hate in a moment that got a huge reaction in the room.
Why this matters for salsa
For salsa fans, this is a rare and exciting moment. For years, one of the common criticisms of the salsa scene has been that many of the most frequently played songs at socials were written in the 1960s and 70s, over 50 years ago.
There have been some newer waves and fresh sounds, with groups like La-33, Chiquito Team Band and Willy Chirino keeping the music moving forward, and artists like Marc Anthony helping salsa cross over into the mainstream.
Still, moments when salsa feels truly centered in the global spotlight are uncommon. That’s why this win feels so big, it signals a new level of attention and legitimacy for the broader Afro-Caribbean music world that salsa comes from, and it has the potential to bring new listeners, energy, and momentum onto the dance floor.
The last time salsa felt this culturally loud and relevant was the Fania era, when the movement was powerful enough to fill Madison Square Garden.
Awards don’t define a genre, but they do change what gets funded, promoted, and taken seriously by the mainstream. A win like this puts real global attention on salsa, and it gives a new generation an easy entry point to explore the classics, modern bands, and the salsa dancing community.
The details
- Award: Album of the Year
- Winner: Bad Bunny
- Album: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
- Next major appearance: Super Bowl LX Halftime Show (February 8, 2026)
The bigger story is what comes next: the Grammy win sets the table for next week’s halftime spotlight. Bad Bunny headlines the Super Bowl LX on February 8, and the official trailer is already leaning hard into dance (Watch the trailer here).
If this level of recognition keeps pushing artists, bands, and producers to produce more salsa music, we could be looking at a new resurgences of salsa music. Either way, the dance world will be watching closely, and we are excited to see how Bad Bunny and other artists keep pushing the genre forward!
